On Wednesday, April 1, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform presented a briefing to explore the trends in health care costs in both the public and private sectors.  The panel discussed such questions as: What is driving health care costs? Will recent moderate growth rates continue? What new strategies and programs are lowering costs, or have the potential to do so? What proposals are under consideration to lower costs?

Moderated by KFF’s Drew Altman and the Alliance’s Marilyn Serafini, Wednesday’s discussion included:

• Gary Claxton, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, director of its Health Care Marketplace Project and co-director of the Program for the Study of Health Reform and Private Insurance, explained recent health care cost trends in the public and private sectors, and addressed prospects for the future.

• Joe Antos, Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy, American Enterprise Institute, identified the drivers of health care costs.

• Jeffrey Selberg, executive director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare, highlighted the importance of identifying, validating and facilitating adoption of existing innovations that increase quality of care and lower costs.