Senator Treat established Maine’s 2003 Rx Plus prescription drug program, which reduces the price of pharmaceuticals by as much as half for low- and middle-income Maine residents. The program uses the buying power of the state’s Medicaid program to penalize drug companies that refuse to offer discounts to Rx Plus participants. The law went into effect in 2004 after surviving a legal challenge from the pharmaceutical industry. Nine states, from Hawaii to Michigan have passed legislation similar to Maine’s. After serving 14 years in the Maine State Legislature, Sharon Treat became Executive Director of the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices, a nonpartisan organization of state legislators working to reduce prescription drug prices and expand access.

A panel discussion on the implications of Senator Treat’s work to New York will feature:

Hon. Richard Gottfried

Chairman of the New York State Assembly Health Committee

Jon R. Cohen, MD

Senior Vice President, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System 

Moderated by Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

Monday December 11, 2006 8:00 - 10:30 a.m.

The Harvard Club 27 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Space is limited. Admission is free.

Please RSVP to dmi@drummajorinstitute.org or to 212-909-9663.

Sharon Anglin Treat was elected to the Maine Senate in 1996, representing District 18, including eleven communities in Kennebec and Sagadahoc Counties. Senator Treat is the Senate Majority Leader in the 121st Legislature and previously served as Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate during the 120th Legislative Session.

Prior to the 121st Legislature, Senator Treat chaired the Natural Resources Committee and served on the Judiciary, Utilities and Energy, Labor, and Rules Committees. Senator Treat has co-chaired several advisory and study commissions, including the Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning Advisory Commission, the Mercury Products Advisory Committee, the "Smart Growth" Task Force, the Governor Baxter School Task Force, and subcommittees on solid waste, MTBE, and hazardous waste liability.

Senator Treat also served three terms in the Maine House of Representatives representing District 91 (Gardiner and Randolph). While in the House, Treat served as House Chair of the Health & Human Resources Committee and of the Judiciary Committee.

Major legislative initiatives sponsored by Senator Treat include: expanding the low-cost drugs for the elderly program to include more people and cover additional medications; establishing a peer support program for dislocated workers; expanding toxics use reduction and pollution prevention in industry and government; establishing state telecommunications policy and the school and library Internet network; welfare reform with an emphasis on education and expanded supportive programs (including family development accounts and transportation initiatives); various initiatives expanding opportunities for the Deaf; an alternative dispute resolution program for gas pipeline siting and "takings" disputes; supporting family farms through financial planning assistance, agricultural marketing and research & development; measures to encourage "smart growth" and downtown redevelopment; funding for school construction and renovation; and comprehensive laws to control the release of mercury into the environment.

Senator Treat is the Coordinator of the Environmental Studies Program at Colby College where she also teaches Environmental Law. She is a lawyer concentrating on natural resources and environmental law, and has also taught at Bowdoin College, the University of Southern Maine, University of New England, and the University of Maine School of Law. Prior to serving in the Legislature, Senator Treat was a staff attorney for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and before that she practiced environmental and labor law in private practice and in state government. She is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Princeton University.

Senator Treat was born in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1956. She lives in Farmingdale, Maine with her partner Bob Collins.

Richard N. Gottfried represents the 75th Assembly District, covering Chelsea, Clinton, Murray Hill, Midtown and part of the Lincoln Center area in Manhattan. He is chair of the Assembly Health Committee. He is a leading state health policy-maker not only in New York but also nationally.

He was a major architect of New York's landmark managed care reforms, and is continuing to fight for stronger protections for consumers and health care providers, and public support for universal access to quality, affordable health care.

Highlights of his legislative work include: the Prenatal Care Assistance Program for low income women; the Child Health Plus Program, which allows low- and moderate-income parents to get free or low-cost health insurance for their children; the Physician Profiling Law, which gives patients access to information about a doctor's record; Family Health Plus, which provides free health coverage for low-income adults; the Health Care Proxy Law, which allows people to designate an agent to make health care decisions for them if they lose capacity; and the HIV Testing and Confidentiality Law.

In the Legislature, he has been the leading proponent of patient autonomy, especially in end-of-life care, and reproductive freedom. He also sponsors the N.Y. Health bill to create a universal publicly funded health coverage plan for New York State. Each year, he has fought successfully to protect and increase funding for Medicaid, school health clinics, AIDS services, and other health concerns.

Dick Gottfried is a member of the Assembly Steering Committee and the committees on Rules, Higher Education, Insurance, Judiciary, and Social Services, as well as Health.

He is a leading advocate in the Legislature for civil liberties, reproductive freedom and gay rights. He has been repeatedly named to the New York Civil Liberties Union's Honor Roll. He was named Environmental Legislator of the Year by the Environmental Planning Lobby, and has been honored by the Family Planning Advocates three times.

Mr. Gottfried was a pioneer in enacting legislation to recognize and protect the rights of crime victims. He was an architect of the 1978 Omnibus Crime Act and wrote laws to reform the grand jury system, strengthen the rape laws and decriminalize marijuana. He drafted the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1976 and sponsored revisions of the laws on foster care, adoption and child abuse.

He previously served as Deputy Majority Leader, Assistant Majority Leader, chair of the Assembly committees on Codes (covering the criminal justice system) and Children and Families, and chair of the Assembly task forces on the Homeless, Campaign Finance Reform, and Crime Victims.

Mr. Gottfried was first elected to the Assembly in 1970, at the age of 23, while a student at Columbia Law School.

Jon R. Cohen, MD is the former Chief Medical Officer of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and Professor of Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Cohen was the Health System's senior physician, responsible for all clinical programs and medical staff affairs for the nation's third largest not-for-profit healthcare system.  With a revenue base of 4 billion dollars, the North Shore-LIJ Health System includes 15 hospitals, two skilled nursing centers, 7,000 physicians, and more than 35,000 employees.

A vascular surgeon with a national reputation in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms, his academic accomplishments include publication of over 100 peer review articles, two books and multiple book chapters.  Dr. Cohen is past president of both the New York Surgical Society and the New York Society for Cardiovascular Surgery, a member of the nation's most prestigious medical societies and a Board member of New York American Red Cross.

Before assuming his position as CMO, Dr. Cohen had been Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.  Dr. Cohen's residency in surgery was at the New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, followed by training in vascular surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Cohen is an expert on Healthcare policy and is frequently asked to speak on issues of health and healthcare. He is on the faculty of Columbia University’s Milman School of Public Health where he teaches a capstone on health policy. Most recently he has been an invited speaker on issues of universal healthcare and Medicaid reform on National Public Radio. His recently published editorials include; “3 Million Uninsured: a Crisis”, Newsday; “Rural Healthcare Crisis is Linked to Ailing Economy”, Buffalo News; and “Medicaid Needs Some Radical Surgery”, Newsday. Dr. Cohen served as the Senior Healthcare advisor to H. Carl McCall during the McCall for Governor race in New York, 2002 and to the John Kerry 2004 Presidential campaign. This year Dr. Cohen was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York State. His platform centered on the healthcare crisis and substantive healthcare reform including universal coverage, cost reduction, investment in information technology and Medicaid reform.