The Galen Institute is an American non-profit research organization that focuses on market-based policy solutions in health care. According to it
mission statement it works to promote “public debate and education about proposals that support individual freedom, consumer choice, competition, and innovation in the health sector.” The Institute was founded in 1996 by Grace-Marie Turner (nee, Arnett) in the aftermath of the national debate in 1993–94 over health policy legislation proposed by then President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.
History
The Galen Institute created the Health Policy Consensus Group in 1993 to convene market-based policy experts to develop health policy reform proposals. The Consensus Group’s first statement, “A Vision for Consumer-Directed Health Reform," was released in 1994 and led to a conference in the Hart Senate Office Building in 1996, “A Fresh Approach to Health Care Reform,” featuring 14 Consensus Group participants. The presentations were later published in a peer-reviewed book, “Empowering Health Care Consumers through Tax Reform” (University of Michigan Press, 1999).
The Galen Institute has been engaged in major health policy debates since its inception, including re-authorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, creation of a prescription drug benefit for
Medicare, and educating the debate about the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
(ACA). Several Consensus Group participants co-authored a book about the ACA, “Why ObamaCare Is Wrong for America” (HarperCollins, 2011). The Galen Institute also filed amicus briefs in U.S. Supreme Court challenging to the health care law.
The Institute also has led in producing the Health Care Choices 20/20 proposal which 82 organizations have signed to offer a health reform alternative that devolves decisions through states to doctors and patients. An independent analysis shows the plan would reduce the costs of premiums in the individual market, result in 4 million more people purchasing health coverage, and decrease federal spending by $36 billion from 2022 to 2030.
Activities
Institute scholars are regularly invited to testify before Congress, including several testimonies by Galen Institute President Turner in 2019 against Medicare for All before the
House Committee on Rules
The Committee on Rules, or more commonly, the Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented to the House of Representatives, unlike other commit ...
, the
House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the
House Committee on Ways and Means, and
House Committee on Education and Labor. The Institute publishes a weekly newsletter, AmericanHealthCareChoices, distributed to thousands of leaders in the health sector and published on the Institute’s website.
The organization’s scholars writ
major papers op-eds and commentaries, and are quoted regularly in major media outlets. In 2020, the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
’s 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Report ranked the Galen Institute as the 4th Free Market Domestic Health Affairs Think Tank in the U.S. That same year, ''
Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' named Galen scholars as three of the 24 most powerful people advising Washington officials on healthcare.
Funding
The Galen Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. It neither seeks nor receives government funding.
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
Official websiteOrganizational Profile–
ProPublica
Healthcare reform advocacy groups in the United States
Organizations established in 1995
Political and economic think tanks in the United States
Libertarian think tanks
Libertarian organizations based in the United States
Medical and health organizations based in Virginia
Think tanks