Lunch & Learn – Myths & Facts of Drug Pricing Proposals

Join Doctors for America for a Lunch & Learn on Tuesday, September 28 at 1:00 p.m. ET! We will be discussing the myths and facts of drug pricing proposals.

Speakers Include:

Maura Calsyn, JD is the vice president and coordinator for Health Policy at American Progress. In this capacity, she plays a leading role in American Progress’ health policy development and advocacy efforts. She has authored and co-authored work published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, U.S. News & World Report, and The Hill. Her work covers a range of topics, including Medicare and Medicaid payment reform, health care transparency, and trends in employer-sponsored insurance. She has also testified before Congress. Prior to joining American Progress, Calsyn was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the General Counsel. During her time there, she served as the department’s lead attorney for several Medicare programs and advised the department on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Before joining the Office of the General Counsel, Calsyn worked as a health care attorney at two international law firms and represented a wide variety of health care payers, providers, and manufacturers. Calsyn first worked in health policy as a health care legislative assistant for Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) before attending law school. Calsyn graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and received her B.A. summa cum laude from Hamilton College.

Benjamin N. Rome, MD, MPH is general internist and health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School and a faculty member in the Division of Pharmacology and Pharmacoeconomics in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Within the Division, Dr. Rome works within the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) to study the evaluation, regulation, cost, and use of prescription drugs in the United States. His research interests include how drug prices affect patient adherence and clinical outcomes, value-based drug pricing, and policies to make medications more affordable to patients. His work has been has published in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Affairs, and JAMA Internal Medicine. His research has also been featured in a Congressional report about rising prescription drug prices and he has testified in front of the US House of Representatives about evidence-based drug approval during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Rome received his undergraduate degree in community health from Brown University, his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and his Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health while he was a general internal medicine fellow at PORTAL. He trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is a practicing primary care physician at the Phyllis Jen Center for Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Mariana Socal, MD, PhD is an associate scientist in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Socal’s research focuses on improving pharmaceutical coverage, affordability and access for populations living with chronic conditions. Dr. Socal has presented before several U.S. Congressional committees and has testified before the U.S. Congress on drug pricing and employment-based health insurance, most recently in May 2021. Dr. Socal has also testified at the Food and Drug Administration on issues related to biopharmaceutical regulation, including insulins. At the state level, Dr. Socal has advised initiatives such as the California Generic Drugs Initiative and states like Tennessee and New York on removing waste from their health benefit programs. At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Socal teaches courses on U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy and on the U.S. Health Care System. Dr. Socal is a physician trained in adult Neurology. Dr. Socal holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University and a PhD in Public Health/Health Systems from Johns Hopkins University.