Named CEO of the American College of Cardiology in November 2006, Jack Lewin is responsible for all aspects of the 36,000 member organization, overseeing a staff of more than 300 and the ACC's $90 million budget.
Under his leadership the College has continued to build upon its standing as a national leader in advocacy, with a particular focus on reforming Medicare, Medicaid, and the financing and delivery of quality health care. These efforts are part of ACC's mission to promote “heart health” and reductions in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Prior to coming to the College, Lewin was the CEO of the California Medical Association (CMA). As such, he oversaw the 35,000-member association, which is the nation's largest state medical association. CMA has over $45 million in annual revenues, $50 million in assets, and over 300 employees, including its subsidiary companies.
Formerly Hawaii's Director of Health from 1986-1994, Lewin helped Hawaii achieve near-universal access to health care and revitalized statewide public health systems. Also in Hawaii, he was the CEO of the statewide 13-facility Community Hospital System. Before that, as a Commissioned Officer in the US Public Health Service (USPHS), he was the founder and first Director of the Navajo Nation Department of Health. Trained in internal medicine, Lewin has also enjoyed many years of practicing primary care medicine.
Lewin serves on numerous national boards and advisory bodies. He was a founder and president of the Physicians' Foundations, which are among the top ten health-related philanthropies in the nation, and is chair, president and a founder of the National Patient Safety Medical Institute. His board appointments have included Partnership for Prevention, the Institute for Medical Quality, the e-Health Initiative, among others, and he was an advisor on health policy to President Clinton.
Lewin has been honored with many awards including the Health Leader of the Year Award from the USPHS Commissioned Officers' Association and the Nathan Davis Award from American Medical Association. He is an honorary Past President of the CMA and Lewin's publications have appeared in professional, scientific and national media sources. Lewin received his B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of California-Irvine, and his M.D. from the University of Southern California.
I am most inspired by the vision of President Obama with respect to health system reform, and his principles for effecting needed changes to America’s health care system. I believe the principles he has provided to this conversation are in full alignment with the principles developed by the College during the past year. I firmly believe the President has taken a pragmatic approach that will bring persons on both sides of the aisle together to get reform passed this year. His concern and desire to address the flawed SGR payment formula and to work with Secretary Sebelius to reduce defensive medicine… Read more
There is no doubt that malpractice reform can impact health care reform. In a session at the ACC’s Legislative Conference held on Monday with staffers from Rep. Michael Burgess and Rep. Bart Gordon, medical liability reform c a me up several times as an area that needs to be addressed in health care reform. Though the cost of medical malpractice is estimated by CBO to be at least 1 percent of overall annual U.S. health care spending, the big number is the cost of defensive medicine. While the amount is controversial, it has been estimated by a number of legitimate sources to approximate $200 billion. Therefore, a little bit of… Read more
President Obama is a remarkable orator, no doubt about that. He made his case for health system reform fairly effectively despite receiving a cold shoulder from Republicans. It is apparent that the public option is not off the table from his smile and Speaker Pelosi’s obvious excitement, but there were some subtle messages in the address that show openness to compromise. First, his apparent enthusiasm for the public option was tempered significantly by his acknowledgment that it is not an essential part of the strategy. That allows Senator Baucus to propose reforms that do not include a true public option… Read more
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 47 years before succumbing to glioblastoma at the age of 77. Even through this challenge he waged a gallant effort. The “lion” of the Senate, Sen. Kennedy championed many progressive issues through his storied career, but none more consistently than his passion for health care. His clear vision was that all Americans should have access to affordable, high-quality care. Known as the most organized and capable member of the Chamber of Colleagues, he was more able than any member in recent history to reach across the aisle… Read more
It doesn’t take a policy expert to know what patients want. They want knowledgeable, caring physicians who know them. They want quality care that prevents, treats and cures illnesses, and they want to be able to afford it. It has been shown time after time that patients trust their doctors more than anybody; more than government, and more than the insurance companies. And when it comes to improving quality, physicians want and need the tools and resources to track and sysemmatically improve quality. Although there are legitimate arguments going on between the President and Congress about issues such… Read more
The Congressional Budget Office has always been the ‘skunk at the garden party’ but Director Doug Elmendorf’s concerns are legitimate. Congress has introduced legislation worthy of consideration that will improve quality, care coordination and efficiency, but the legislation lacks the teeth that will actually reform the system. A reform bill that works is still possible as the legislation goes through the committee process, mark-ups and conference. What’s concerning is beyond the rhetoric, the implementation strategies are not there yet to implement actual reform and after all, isn’t that the point of this whole exercise? A lot of provisions in… Read more
Deadlines can be helpful. They represent a benchmark for Congress to work toward and are a clear alternative to battling over health care reform without an end in sight. However Congress has a tendency to meet deadlines with quick fixes rather than meeting the needs of the people in the time allowed. Not only are these band-aid fixes ineffective, they leave the real problems for someone else to fix down the road. For example, look at the physician reimbursement formula to Medicare from 2008. Under a statutory deadline many doctors could no longer afford to see Medicare patients because… Read more
The American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) CEO, Jack Lewin, M.D., released the following statement following the testimony on “Health Reform in the 21st Century” from Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to the House Committee on Ways and Means: “Secretary Sebelius’ testimony today is consistent with the bipartisan thinking on reforming the nation’s health care system and what we heard at the White House Summit on Health Care Reform. “Leaders in both parties and the health care community agree: The American health care system needs to change. What we heard from Secretary Sebelius and committee members… Read more
President Obama’s comments to the Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday night went over well. If you noticed, both sides of the aisle stood and applauded his call for immediate action to reform the nation’s health care system. That’s a good sign there is a political will to act immediately. The President’s budget calls for a 10-year program that creates a $634 billion “reserve fund” designed to modernize our health care system. I’ve long said we can’t let cost be a barrier to reform, but rather it should be a driver to create a more efficient health care system that… Read more
Americans bank online. Americans file taxes online. Yet, if a child gets sick it could take hours or days for doctors to get current and necessary medical records, especially if a child has multiple health care providers. In a country that invented the Internet, there is no reason why medical records can't be online as well. The much ballyhooed proposed economic stimulus package of President Obama appears to be the largest public infrastructure project since the 1950s and promises hope for millions of Americans. Yet the most overlooked aspect of this plan could be one of the most meaningful aspects:… Read more
Related Link: http://lewinreport.acc.org/
