Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East
Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
Enacting universal healthcare was a 65 year project, which cost two Presidents control of Congress and jeopardized their chance for reelection. From the time the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010 to the end of President Obama’s second term, its repeal was the number one priority of the Republicans in Washington, and it was deeply unpopular across the nation. Now that the Republicans have control of all branches of government, the repeal agenda is complicated by the new support for the law by voters and some Republican governors. This lecture will discuss the complicated politics surrounding the Affordable Care Act and the policy options for the future.
Speakers
Lecture:
William B. Schultz is a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where he represents healthcare consumers, payers and providers with complex regulatory issues before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), other federal agencies, and the courts. He also assists generic drug companies, nonprofit organizations and other clients with matters before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the courts. From March 2011 to June 2016, Schultz served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he was legal counsel to two HHS secretaries on all legal matters and managed an office of 500 lawyers across 8 offices, covering 10 regions across the country. HHS administers $1 trillion per year in federal programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, the FDA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control. The office of general counsel is responsible for all litigation where HHS is a party, ensuring regulations and policy decisions are consistent with the law, reviewing legal issues involving appropriations, and ensuring ethical rules are followed.
Previously, Schultz has also been deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice; deputy commissioner for policy for the FDA; the counsel to the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment (Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman), Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives; and an attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group. Schultz holds a BA from Yale University and a JD from the University of Virginia.
Moderator:
Einer R. Elhauge is the Petrie Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Founding Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics. He served as Chairman of the Antitrust Advisory Committee to the Obama Campaign. He teaches a gamut of courses ranging from Antitrust, Contracts, Corporations, Legislation, and Health Care Law. Before coming to Harvard, he was a Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, and clerked for Judge Norris on the 9th Circuit and Justice Brennan on the Supreme Court. He received both his AB and his JD from Harvard, graduating first in his law school class.
This event is sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.
