Stuart Altman to be featured guest on NPR's 'On Point' with Tom Ashbrook

Photo/Mike Lovett

Stuart Altman at his desk in the Heller School

Stuart Altman, the Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy in Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy and Management, will be on National Public Radio’s "On Point" program Thursday, June 28, beginning at 10 a.m.

The interview and discussion program, hosted by Tom Ashbrook, can be heard live in the Boston area on 90.9 FM. It also is possible to listen live on the web  or to the podcast after the live broadcast concludes. The program will be carried by 229 NPR stations nationwide.

Altman’s appearance comes as a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s health care legislation is expected at any time.

A nationally recognized authority on health policy in the United States, Altman and longtime collaborator David Shactman published a book last year tracing the development of the issue historically and through Altman’s personal experiences and observations as a Washington insider in the process.

Altman served as a deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in President Richard Nixon’s administration and was an architect of Nixon’s plan for universal health care. He was chair of the commission overseeing the way Medicare paid health care institutions for 12 years under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  In addition, he served on President Clinton’s transition team and was a member of the president’s Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Altman was also a member of the health policy team for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.