Joseph Grogan

For over a decade, Washington has waged war over the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Was this divide ultimately about policy or politics? In this presentation, Joe brings his expertise in healthcare policy to address the questions:

• Will Republicans get on board with Obamacare’s original goals of universal coverage, cost control, and coverage of pre-existing conditions?


• Will Democrats acknowledge the ACA’s flaws and allow citizens the access to care outside of the ACA?


• The longstanding debate over the ACA’s efficacy is just one example of congress’s challenges to deliver healthcare promises. What can the markets teach us about why that is?

In this presentation, Joe brings his experience as the associate director for health programs in the Office of Management and Budget to address the questions:

• What do Biden’s appointees mean for the direction of healthcare in America?


• Can Republicans find common ground following the Trump era?


• What does Biden’s presidency mean for drug and device innovation?

Joe Grogan was a member of the White House’s COVID-19 Task Force, where he worked with Executive Branch officials to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency.  America’s Covid response revealed deep flaws in the government’s public health system. In this presentation, Joe looks at both sides of the coin:

• What went wrong and went right in America’s Covid response?


• What role do states play and what resources do they need to be successful?


• Perhaps most importantly, how can America reform its federal health bureaucracy to meet future national health emergencies?

The Coronavirus has shown how the interwoven global economy can erode sovereignty and America’s ability to be self-reliant.  With medical product supply chains completely dependent on self-interested foreign governments, America has faced critical medical product shortages and lacked the ability to master its own response.  Additionally, international institutions, which arose out of the post -World War II order, have come under threat from foreign powers hostile to American values. Joe Grogan presents a perspective on how a more robust economy, which is based on personal and national resilience, is the best future for our country.  Grogan outlines a bold vision of a new globalism, in which America is the lion in partnering with, rather than depending on, foreign powers.

A revolution in patient-centered health care provides an incredible opportunity to reframe the health reform debate.  The past discussion revolved around universal coverage, cost containment, and centralized planning.  The future is the empowerment of health care consumers through increased information and choices.  Vast innovation in technology and health information can help patients inform reform the system through their own choices.  Rather than government policy makers “redesigning” the health care system, there is an opportunity for patients to choose a system that works best for them.  The health policy agenda of the future includes pricing transparency so patients understand cost, interoperable medical records so patients can understand their health status and clear outcomes data so patients can understand the quality of results.  Additionally, options like telehealth solutions allow patients to get care where and when they want it.  Joe Grogan redefines “health reform,” and lays out a clear vision for what policy steps can be taken to foster patient-centered reform.

Medical breakthroughs present a new golden age for scientific advancement and patient treatment.  Years of medical technology investment and a more proactive FDA have produced significant breakthroughs on which government coverage and payment policies can be employed to broaden access.  Further, in the biopharmaceutical space, policies that promote market-based competition can help consumers get affordable access to prescription drugs.  Finally, over a series of decades, ad hoc, short term health policy and economic decisions have left America with a creaky, unstable reimbursement system that fails to value truly needed medical products.   A focused medical product discovery, development and manufacturing agenda can reduce our reliance on foreign supply chains, and produce more affordable and better results for patients.  Joe Grogan presents ideas on how payment policies can advance adoption of medical innovation, competition can unleash market powers to make products more affordable, and a focused medical product manufacturing agenda can produce better results.