A New Approach to Vaccine Development
A Discussion of the Institute of Medicine Committee Recommendations

The current system of supplying vaccines appears to be in a state of crisis. While immunization rates among children are high, there have been periodic shortages of vaccines. In addition, there are few incentives to develop new vaccines, and a declining number of manufacturers. That has raised concerns that we would not adequately be protected against potential bioterrorist attacks or future outbreaks of serious diseases. To address this crisis a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) calls for major changes in the current system of financing vaccine purchases. The IOM recommends a government mandate that all public and private health insurance programs cover vaccines, a voucher to uninsured individuals to assure their coverage, and government subsidies for vaccines based on an estimate of their value to society.

An eleven-person panel chaired by Duke University economist Frank Sloan devised the IOM report and its recommendations. Professor Sloan and panel members Sara Rosenbaum and Mark Pauly will present the report’s findings. The report’s conclusions will be assessed by three experts in the pharmaceutical and health insurance markets: AEI economist John Calfee; Christine Grant, vice president of AventisPasteur, a major vaccine producer; and Carmella Bocchino, vice president of the association of health insurers and health plans. The IOM report: Financing Vaccines in the 21st Century: Assuring Access and Availability is available online.

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About the Author

 

John E.
Calfee
  • Economist John E. Calfee (1941-2011) studied the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with the economics of tobacco, tort liability, and patents. He previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Economics. He had also taught marketing and consumer behavior at the business schools of the University of Maryland at College Park and Boston University. While Mr. Calfee's writings are mostly on pharmaceutical markets and FDA regulation, his academic articles and opinion pieces covered a variety of topics, from patent law and tort liability to advertising and consumer information. His books include Prices, Markets, and the Pharmaceutical Revolution (AEI Press, 2000) and Biotechnology and the Patent System (AEI Press, 2007). Mr. Calfee wrote regularly for AEI's Health Policy Outlook series. He testified before Congress and federal agencies on various topics, including alcohol advertising; biodefense vaccine research; international drug prices; and FDA oversight of drug safety.

 

Robert B.
Helms
  • Robert B. Helms has served as a member of the Medicaid Commission as well as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation and deputy assistant secretary for health policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). An economist by training, he has written and lectured extensively on health policy and health economics, including the history of Medicare, the tax treatment of health insurance, and compared international health systems. He currently participates in the Health Policy Consensus Group, an informal task force that is developing consumer-driven health reforms. He is the author or editor of several AEI books on health policy, including Medicare in the Twenty-First Century: Seeking Fair and Efficient Reform and Competitive Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
  • Phone: 2028625877
    Email: rhelms@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Catherine Griffin
    Phone: 2028625920
    Email: catherine.griffin@aei.org

 

Mark V.
Pauly

  • Mark V. Pauly is the Bendheim Professor in the Department of Health Care Management;  professor of health care management, insurance and risk management, and business and public policy at the Wharton School; codirector of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Life Sciences and Management Program; and professor of economics in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. A former commissioner on the Physician Payment Review Commission, Mr. Pauly has served on the advisory committee to the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality and on the Medicare Technical Advisory Panel. He currently serves on the National Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources, the National Academy of Sciences' Committee to Study the Veterinary Workforce, and its Committee on the Biomedical Workforce. He has been a consultant to the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (which supported some of his work on individual health insurance), and health trade associations. Mr. Pauly is a coeditor-in-chief of the International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics and an associate editor of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty.  


  • Phone: 2158986861
    Email: pauly@wharton.upenn.edu

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Free beer: Liberating libations from ‘Bootleggers and Baptists’

Join us for a discussion of the history and future of federal and state alcohol regulation and competition, followed by a reception with beer, wine, and spirits.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NCLB sanctions: Tests taken, lessons learned

Join education scholars and practitioners for a discussion about the latest NCLB research and its implications for future education policy.

Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Competing visions of the common good: Rethinking help for the poor

What shared commitments do we have as citizens and neighbors to care for one another? How can a proper ordering of America’s political economy enable the most people to have the best life? At this event, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime champion of human rights causes, and AEI President Arthur Brooks will join Wallis in addressing these and other questions.

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