Robert Laszewski

Bob Laszewski was named the Washington Post's Wonkblog "Pundit of the Year" for 2013 for "one of the most accurate and public accounts" detailing the first few months of the Obamacare rollout. Robert Laszewski is president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, Inc. (HPSA), a policy and marketplace consulting firm specializing in assisting its clients through the significant health policy and market change afoot. Before forming HPSA in 1992, Mr. Laszewski was chief operating officer of a health and group benefits insurer. Mr. Laszewski also publishes Health Policy and Marketplace Review, a blog focused on health care policy and marketplace activities. Marketplace Activities The majority of Mr. Laszewski’s time is spent being directly involved in the marketplace as it comes to grips with the health care cost and quality challenge. His clients include health insurance companies, casualty insurance companies, HMOs, Blue Cross organizations, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and physician groups. HPSA has been involved in the development of organized delivery systems, joint ventures between insurance companies and providers, joint ventures between HMOs and insurance companies, the acquisition and divestiture of blocks of health insurance business, the creation of strategies for workers' compensation carriers to manage their costs in the changing health care delivery market, and the strategic planning of numerous clients as they come to grips with their response to policy and market driven change. Mr. Laszewski is very active in the purchase and divestiture of health care and insurance businesses having been involved in a number of such transactions in recent years. Policymaking Activities Mr. Laszewski has participated extensively in the nation's health care debate, especially on health insurance reform and the impact it will have on existing health insurance programs, the insurance industry, and the evolving role between payers and providers. Bob Laszewski has written and spoken widely on the subject of health care reform and market change. His media appearances include health care features on NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and NPR. Additionally, numerous articles about his ideas have appeared in the national and trade press and he has been regularly quoted in many newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USAToday, and the Washington Post. He has also participated globally having chaired two international meetings recently in Washington, DC on the issue of international prescription drug pricing and the use of medical technology in Europe compared to the U.S. While in the insurance industry, he participated on a number of insurance industry task forces and committees including: serving as chairman of the Provider Relations Committee, serving on the Board Task Force on Cost Containment and on the working group on the ethics of genetic testing and insurance. He was a founding board member of the bipartisan Alliance for Health Reform as well as a member of the Board of Overseers of the C. Everett Koop Foundation at Dartmouth and the Dartmouth Medical School. Major health care stakeholders seeking experts to address their meetings regularly seek his opinions. He has offered his perspective on health care reform in testimony before several committees of both the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress. Bob Laszewski speaks to many groups each year. These meetings include physicians, hospital executives, employer benefit managers, insurer leaders, and investors. Most groups are interested in a Bob's perspective on the changing U.S. health care system including the impact of and outlook for Obamacare, the evolution in employer-provided benefits, the movement to alternative systems of payment and the impact that will have on providers, and the short- and long-term changes the federal deficit will have on health care. Never have we seen so much simultaneous change in the health care markets. Just as we're trying to digest all of the changes from Obamacare, health care providers are faced with the prospect of having to adapt to entirely new methods of payment. Employers have also come to a crossroads in providing benefits to their workers now that the federal government is willing to provide health insurance and just as employers are seriously considering defined contribution arrangements. Which of these trends will survive, which will remain but evolve more slowly, and what will the market look like in the years to come? These audiences are also interested in Bob's inside the beltway perspective. Will Republicans repeal Obamacare or ultimately work with Democrats to improve it? What will the courts ultimately do to the law and what impact would judicial action have on the marketplace? Bob Laszewski's perspective is unique because he has twenty years of experience in the health care market and twenty years experience as a Washington, DC insider.