About The Forum

The Forum draws participants from both political parties. Generally, the audience consists of staff from congressional committees, member offices, and support agencies responsible for health or health-related issues and executive branch staff from relevant departments and agencies. These include the Congressional Budget Office; the Government Accountability Office; the Congressional Research Service; the Library of Congress; the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other offices within the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services; and other federal departments such as the Office of Management and Budget that are involved in health issues.

Participants consistently say that they value the Forum for:

• Providing access to the most knowledgeable people in health care and health policy.
• Fostering a candid exchange of ideas in an off-the-record setting.
• Exploring viewpoints that challenge the conventional wisdom.
• Bringing to the table a wide range of expertise and policy perspectives.
• Putting important research findings into a policy context.
• Bringing real-world experience to national and regional issues.
• Creating opportunities to develop more personal working relationships that facilitate understanding, cooperation, and negotiation.