U-M to host panel of Massachusetts experts giving health care reform advice to Michigan businesses

Business leaders from Massachusetts will offer lessons they’ve learned from the implementation of health care reforms to Michigan employers Monday during a forum at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The panel discussion will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Auditorium at 1130 Weill Hall at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, at 735 South State St. in Ann Arbor. The event is open to the public and also will be webcast live online.

As Michigan businesses prepare to encounter changes in health care requirements for their employees throughout this year and next year under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, U-M’s Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation (CHRT) decided to call in business leaders from Massachusetts for their advice.

Health care reform took place in Massachusetts in 2006 -- several years before President Barack Obama passed the Affordable Care Act, which first took effect in 2010.

“We and business leaders can learn a lot from what can happen in Massachusetts,” said Marianne Udow-Phillips, director of the CHRT. “Our goal is to help decision makers using facts.”

The panel will consist of Rob Fowler, president and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan; Helen Levy, research associate professor at U-M’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Rick Lord, president and CEP of Associated Industries of Massachusetts; and Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

The moderator of the panel will be Thomas Buchmueller, a professor at U-M’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. In October, health insurance exchanges will begin enrolling small businesses and individuals and in January, a large wave of Medicaid enrollments will go through.

“Businesses will soon decide what they want to do,” Udow-Phillips said.

In Michigan, the government decided to partner with the federal government in the creation of a health insurance exchange.

The event is sponsored by Community Catalysts of Boston and a number of U-M entities including the Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and U-M’s School of Public Health.

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.