Contributor

Raymond C. Scheppach

Executive Director, National Governors Association

Biography provided by participant

Ray Scheppach was appointed executive director of the National Governors Association (NGA) in January 1983. As executive director, Ray oversees the day-to-day operations of the association and works closely with NGA's chair and vice chair and their staffs to help identify priorities for the nation�s governors. Through NGA, governors deal collectively with issues of public policy and governance at both the national and state levels. The association's mission is to provide a forum for governors to exchange views and experiences among themselves; assistance in solving state focused problems; information on state innovations and practices; and a bipartisan forum for governors to establish, influence and implement policy on national issues. Prior to NGA, Ray worked for seven years at the Congressional Budget Office, serving the last two years as Deputy Director. Under his leadership, NGA has risen to become one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. NGA was ranked 12th by Fortune magazine in its 1999 annual survey of the most influential trade associations, labor unions and interest groups. Professional health care experience and publications include: leading a team of six state Medicaid and Governor's health policy advisors to negotiate state issues as part of President Clinton's health care initiative; member of the Jackson Hole Health Care initiative that developed a proposal and series of policy papers for managed competition; participant and speaker in the Council on Health Care Economics and Policy seminars under the direction of Stuart Altman, Ph.D.; published "The State Healthy Agenda: Austerity, Efficiency and Monitoring the Emerging Market" The Future U.S. Health Care System: Who Will Care for the Poor and Uninsured, edcited by Stuart H. Altman, Uwe E. Reinhardt, Alexandra E. Shields, Health Administration Press; and published "The Clinton Plan: How Does it Play for Governors and State" with Carl Volpe, Journal of American Health Policy, November/December 1993 issue. He has written numerous professional articles on various public policy issues and has authored and co-authored four books on economics, including co-writing the 1984 book New Directions in Economic Policy: An Agenda for the 1980's. Ray received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Maine, and his master's and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Connecticut.

Recent Responses

September 14, 2009 07:58 AM

The issues of malpractice and the practice of defensive medicine have been a concern for states, as they contribute to increasing health care costs. States have varied experiences addressing these challenges, with different versions of tort reforms as the most frequent tool. But other efforts to tackle aspects of medical malpractice also have been implemented in states, including insurance reforms and patient safety efforts. Like all things in health care, this is a complex issue, and no silver bullet solution has been identified. However, malpractice reform should be part of any comprehensive health care reform package.

There is no solid estimate of its impact on health care’s bottom line, although the burden on providers in purchasing insurance is well known. While it has been a few years since this issue rose to crisis proportions in most states, it has never been resolved. Governors continue to hear the concerns of providers and have seen malpractice insurance rates climb.

The state efforts in the past decade should guide any future approach to malpractice reform. T