The Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law School and Harvard's Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston presented The Cost of Health Care: Finding the Right Balance Tuesday, May 15, at Suffolk Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston.

The symposium addressed whether rising health care costs are crowding out more productive uses of funds and how policymakers might encourage more efficient and effective uses of those funds.

"Given that both the Massachusetts House and Senate introduced health care cost-containment legislation in the past week, the timing couldn't be better for a thorough examination of the ramifications of various strategies for reining in health care spending," said Suffolk Law Dean Camille Nelson, who will make opening remarks at the symposium.

Rep. Steven Walsh, author of the House bill, served as a panelist at the symposium.

He and other speakers presented data comparing the growth in expenditures on health care with the growth of spending in other areas for Massachusetts and other states.

The panels also addressed issues such as making health care spending more efficient, the pitfalls of strategies that risk exacerbating economic and health-outcome disparities, and whether public funds might be more efficiently spent on goods and services other than health care, such as education.

Topics and panelists

Balancing Health Care and Other Priorities

• Amitabh Chandra, professor of Public Policy, director of Health Policy Research, Harvard Kennedy School
• Jay Gonzalez, Massachusetts Secretary for Administration and Finance
• Kate Walsh, president and chief executive officer, Boston Medical Center

The Challenge of Changing Health Care Programs and Policies

• Michael T. Caljouw, vice president of Public, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
• Renée Landers, professor of law and faculty director, Health and Biomedical Law Concentration, Suffolk University Law School
• Lauren A. Smith, M.D., M.P.H., medical director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• Rep. Steven Walsh, House chairman, Massachusetts General Court Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Edward Glaeser, Glimp Professor of Economics and director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard University, served as moderator and made closing remarks.

The Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law School was established in 2006 through a generous gift from the Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation. The Center fosters innovative thinking on law and public policy and promotes emerging leaders who are deeply committed to public service and pro bono work.

Harvard University's Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston aims to improve governance of Greater Boston by fostering better connections between scholars, policy makers, and civic leaders. The Institute was founded and funded by the Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation, which promotes emerging leaders.