National lawmakers are under intense pressure to crunch 2,079 pages of health insurance and health reform proposals into a sweeping new law. As they deliberate and debate, resulting critical decisions will impact the wallets and coverage of every American. Three major reform bills under serious consideration offer different blends of penalties and perks. The Memorial Student Center Wiley Lecture Series is proud to announce, “Dissecting the Health Care Debate,” featuring Dr. James Rohack and Dr. Nancy Dickey moderated by Dr. Alan Xenakis to help make sense of the health care debate. The program will be held, October 7, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. on A&M’s College Station campus in Rudder Tower, Room 301. The admission is free.

“At a time of historic health reform, Texas A&M students are being given an outstanding opportunity to voice their opinion with national experts on a topic that will shape their lives, and the lives of their families in the future,” says Wiley Series Marketing Director and A&M student, Alex Allen. Allen and his Series colleagues have invited three prominent physicians to participate in the program: Dr. James Rohack, a senior staff cardiologist at Scott & White Clinic in Temple, Texas, became the 164th president of the American Medical Association (AMA) in June 2009. In 2009 he was voted No. 20 in the 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Health care by the readers of Modern Health care and Modern Physician magazines. Dr. Nancy W. Dickey is the President of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs for The Texas A & M University System. Dr. Dickey, Chairs the Committee on Health Care Reform for the Texas Medical Association and is also a past president of the American Medical Association. The moderator, Dr. Alan Xenakis is Clinical Assistant Professor, and Program Director, Health, Media, and Medicine, Department of Humanities in Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College of Medicine. Dr. Xenakis is an Emmy Award winning and thirteen time nominated host and moderator on health care issues that have appeared regularly on ABC and CBS national television and before Congress.

The MSC Wiley Lecture Series, created in 1983 is the largest student-run lecture series in the country. It exists to broaden the educational experiences of the Texas A & M community through thought-provoking discussion on national and foreign policy issues. Past speakers have included: Gen. and Secretary of State, Colin Powell, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Presidents, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, Former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig, and journalists Ed Bradley, Sam Donaldson, and George Will.