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Business Conversations Georgetown University Law Center Jack Burkman Julian Epstein McDonough School of Business
Jack Burkman, founder and president of Burkman Associates LLC, is one of Washington’s leading political consultants and strategists. He frequently appears on major television networks in the United States and abroad, commenting on both American and European politics. He is a former Fox News political analyst and was a regular contributor to “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher” from 1998 to 2002. Burkman is particularly well known for his work with Fox analyzing the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton.
A graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and a Washington, D.C., lawyer, Burkman was part of the nationally syndicated television series “Power of Attorney” from 2000 to 2001. Prior to founding his own firm, he was of counsel to the law firm of Holland&Knight, LLP. In the 1990s, he served as counsel to U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio and was an associate of the Smith-Free Group, a leading Washington lobbying boutique.
Burkman also holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown. He received a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Julian Epstein is the CEO of LMG, Inc, a public affairs firm that combines the worlds of law and policy, communications, and political organizing. LMG represents many Fortune 100 companies, non-profit organizations, and political candidates at the federal and state levels. Epstein has served as a regular commentator on major television networks, as well as Court TV, for whom he provides regular interviews on political and legal matters. He regularly advises elected, corporate, and non-profit officials on legal, political, and public relations issues.
Epstein served as Democratic Chief Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001 where he led efforts for the Democrats on a wide range of issues including intellectual property, telecommunications, privacy, immigration, and civil rights. He also was Chief Democratic Counsel during the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton, and he served as the spokesman for the Democrats in the House of Representatives on the impeachment proceedings. Previously, Epstein was the Chief of Staff to the House Government Reform Committee, where he supervised hundreds of investigations into government misconduct and managed a number of landmark political reform laws.
Epstein’s published works appear in law journals, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and various magazines. Epstein earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
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This is some interesting stuff!
Congratulations McDonough School of Business on the launch on Georgetown Business Conversations!
Love the site!
Death is not optional. It will come to all of us sooner or later. The best that can be hoped for is to have a life that is long and a death that is as painless as possible. Of course, single payer policy can actually be shown to save both lives and money.
1. I’d like to hear from my friends who work in HR/Compensation. If the ‘public option’ passes, will you change your benefits structure?
2. I also want to hear from my classmates who dream of being entrepreneurs but the cost/fear of health care has kept you from making that leap. Would a public option be the catalyst to leave your cushy bulge bracket firm and do your own thing?
Like Mr. Epstein said, I see the need for health care reform and would be open to helping subsidize insurance or care for those who cannot afford it. My worry regarding government run plans or a single payer system is that reimbursements will be so meager and the process so cumbersome for doctors that they’ll stop taking insurance altogether, and we’ll have separate health care for the haves and have nots. Not bad if you’re one of the ‘haves.’
I was present at this event, and this is only one-third of the conversation at worst, and one-half of it at best. Where is the rest of the footage? They were just getting warmed up and talking in generalities at this point. Please upload the rest of the discussion, as well as the Q&A.
LaDedra,
Thanks for informing us about this very congenial and informative discussion. I tip my hat to Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. In terms of content, the insurance industry and associated lobbyists will ultimately determine the outcome of this debate (unless the American public continues to keep a vigilant eye on Uncle Sam). Keep up the strong work!
First let me say that the White House should hire Mr. Epstein as their lead spokesperson on health care reform. He makes the most cogent argument that I have heard against the leading Republican talking points in opposition of a “public option” as part of health care reform.
While Mr. Epstein is admittedly left of the official White House position in his support of a single-payer system; he still makes very sensible and market-based argument that increased competition in the market place will naturally bring down insurance prices. This is something that Republicans generally embrace, except when the new competitor is government. But as Mr. Epstein states, there are examples of how this model already works in the case of U.S. Postal Service and others.
I am generally a believer in the innovation and efficiencies of the free-market system and generally do not believe in the effeciencies of government-run programs. That being said, there are some things that the government does do well; and one of those things has been health care in the form of Medicare, although it certainly is not without its own problems. Furthermore it is illogical for extreme pro-market people to rage against the ineffectiveness of goverment on one hand and then say they can’t compete against them on the other hand, particularly when the government is forced to play by market rules, as is the case in the Obama proposal…. Read More
I could obviously go on for days on this issue. So, I will end with one final comment: I believe the solution to the overall health care cost issue (beyond insurance costs) is that the entire system be a non-profit system. In that way no government intervention is required and the profit motive that leads to the artificially inflated cost of health care in this country is removed. Innovation would remain because I believe most actual researchers (the individuals and not their companies) do pursue their work for altruistic reasons. And, they can still be compensated or awarded for the contributions as many non-profits already award major contributors to their particular cause or interest.
This is a great informative video and Mr. Epstein is very eloquent and clear in explaining what the American people need to hear about Health Care reform. Everybody who supports it is just waiting on the side lines instead of voicing it out and helping pass this bill. Every little bit counts. Let’s be smart about it. Instead of waiting to see it all evaporate.
S. Putzeys
First off, I have met both of these men and I like both of these men. Also, I tend to be on the libertarian side of things, but I have to give kudos to Mr. Epstein as he is the first person to get me to think that maybe the government needs to step in to some extent. With that said, how do we control the “monster” should the government get in?
I remember hearing some projections made in the beginning of Medicaid on how much Medicaid was going to cost and that the actual numbers were exponentially higher. Burkmann is right that we need to help those who are truly incapable of helping themselves, but we also need to get a handle on helathcare costs which affect everyone, regardless of political leaning.
I don’t have the answers, but I appreciate a couple of different perspectives to chew on.
Thanks for the video.
Great thanks to Dr. Almeida for kicking this off. I love the idea of this forum and hope that more of our alumni will join in the conversation.
I agree with mba1998 on the benefits of a single payer system to entrepreneurs. Removing the direct costs of healthcare from the risk equation will most certainly increase the number of budding new business owners willing to leave their day jobs and start new businesses. Entrepreneurship is left to the young and mostly inexperienced, not because they have better ideas, but mostly because they don’t have spouses and children whose health and welfare they cannot put at risk. If we can contain costs and provide a basic level of insurance for all Americans I am convinced that we will see larger numbers of people with decades of business experience take the entrepreneurial leap.
Having lived in Europe for 12 years and having managed a major pharma company in that market, Ive seen the good and bad of the systems. As a patient, I and other Americans were invariably very satisfied with the level of care. Saying that US care is better is not born out in the facts or from the WHO statistics.One can look at all major disease categories and see lower incidences of disease and see that those countries are getting a better return on the healthcare investment. A single payor system may benefit businesses by reducing costs, but it is very tough on pharma and instrument providers. Many of these governments unilaterally reduce price every 2 years, often with little dialogue with companies. Those systems are very much in crisis economically. The lobby in those countries is not as strong as in the US and governments are good at keeping the lobby in check.
The discussion was very provocative. What was not really touched was why Europe has single payor/ blended systems. That is partly because it is clear that the unfettered market does not actually regulate itself and the patient’s best interest is not preeminent. Insurers and pharma companies do their best to preserve rates and prices and are not prone to real market competition like in semiconductors, clothing, food and other sectors.
The argument about killing innovation is tired and not born out in fact. Over the last 20 years, traditional pharma has has virtually no major innovations because they pursue safe me-too product development. The R&D organizations are akin to academic institutions for the most part. European systems pay for real nnovation when it appears. They reduce prices on older drugs and grant low prices to me-too product entrants.
What was also not touched is the abuse in the system through denial of claims etc. which is very difficult for individuals to fight, particularly in the midst of a family health crisis. The single-payor option I believe is intended to scare insurers to quit the tactics of denial and rate inflation.
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Muy buenas cosas.