You are invited to join us for a lunchtime discussion: The Need to Reform Health Entitlements for a Sustainable Federal Budget
When: April 25th, 2024; 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
Where: Russell Office Building Room 385
You are invited to join us for a panel with Congressional Budget Office Director Phill Swagel, Paragon Health Institute President Brian Blase, and Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) President & CEO Paul Winfree. This important lunchtime discussion will cover the federal budget deficit, projected growth of federal debt, and what policymakers should consider to put the U.S. budget on a sustainable trajectory. Lunch will be provided.
As highlighted in work by the Paragon Health Institute and EPIC, America’s large and growing budget deficits are driven by two factors: health care entitlement programs and interest payments on the national debt. As health care entitlement programs are the biggest driver of rising deficits and debt, Congress must focus on sensible reforms that sustain health programs for those in need without increasing the current and future tax burden on hard-working Americans. The consequences of proceeding with the status quo are severe; without necessary reforms to health care programs, the federal government is at risk of not being able to borrow money in the future.
Please feel free to share this invite with any congressional staffer who may be interested in attending.
About the panelists:
Phill Swagel, PhD — Director of the Congressional Budget Office since 2019, Swagel fully recognizes the looming problem of federal debt, recently telling the Financial Times that “the mounting U.S. fiscal burden [is] on an ‘unprecedented’ trajectory.”
Paul Winfree, Ph.D. — President & CEO of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), Winfree has served in top management and policy roles in the White House, the U.S. Senate, and think tanks.
Brian C. Blase, Ph.D. — President of Paragon Health Institute, Blase was formerly a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017 to 2019 and worked as a congressional committee staffer from 2011 to 2015.
