Healthcare expert to offer lessons from Taiwan's universal system

Dr. William Hsiao, an economist at the Harvard School of Public Health and architect of Taiwan’s universal healthcare system, offers the presentation Taiwan’s Health Reforms: Lessons for the U.S. and Maine at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

The talk is part of the Civic Forum series at Bates, presented by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the Bates office that coordinates projects linking the college and community, the talks are open to the public at no charge. For more information, please contact 207-786-6202 or this kcloutie@bates.edu.

An international expert on health care finance, Hsaio is the K.T. Li Professor of Economics in the Program in Health Care Financing at Harvard. He served as principal adviser to Taiwan’s government as that country reformed its healthcare system in the 1990s. At Bates, he will share his experiences in Taiwan and the lessons they hold for the U.S. as the nation works to implement statewide and national healthcare reform law.

Hsaio is the co-author of Getting Health Reform Right (Oxford University Press, 2004). While in Maine, Hsiao will testify before the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Healthcare Reform Opportunities and Implementation. He has been engaged by Vermont’s legislature to design options for a state healthcare system that includes a single-payer option.

Civic Forum presentations explore civic, political and policy issues significant to the local community, Maine and beyond. They often feature panels of local and national experts and lively question and answer sessions. Most of the events are broadcast on Maine Public Radio’s “Speaking in Maine” series.