Harold Godwin to speak on health care

By Betsy Cutcliff

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Harold Godwin, associate dean of the School of Pharmacy, will speak tomorrow on the future of the health care system at a pizza and politics event for the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.

Godwin, who is also the president-elect of the American Pharmacists Association, will address some of the issues former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will face as secretary of health and human services.

Chelsea Mertz, Topeka junior and student assistant at the Dole Institute, said that health care would be one of the major issues in Washington during the next year and that students should pay attention to policies that would affect their future.

“Health care is the next big battle that’s going to go down,” Mertz said.

Mertz said Godwin was chosen to speak on the subject because of his proximity to the issue.

“He’s going to have a lot to do with these people on Capitol Hill,” Mertz said.

Sebelius accepted the nomination as the next secretary of health and human services and was sworn into office April 28. In addition to cabinet member and governor, Sebelius has also served as Kansas insurance commissioner.

According to the latest government data and the National Coalition on Health Care, nearly 18 percent of the population under the age of 65 doesn’t have health care.

Mertz said the topic was important because the last time the health care system was in the spotlight was in the 1990s during Hilary Clinton’s unsuccessful attempt to reform it.

Godwin will speak at 12:30 p.m. in the Centennial Room in the Kansas Union. Free pizza will be provided.

— — Edited by Brandy Entsminger

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