More than 700 health economists will gather on the campus Monday, June 21, through Wednesday, June 23, to discuss health care reform and the economics of such major public health issues as obesity, drug abuse and smoking.

The Third Biennial Conference of the American Society of Health Economists, themed "Health, Healthcare and Behavior," will feature more than 160 sessions that examine a multitude of topics, including the uninsured, hospital competition, public and private care, prescription drug costs, consumer choice, small business insurance plans and Medicare from an economic perspective. Other aspects to be covered include the public and private costs of cancer treatment, suicide, aging and H1N1 influenza.

Cornell President David Skorton, a cardiologist, will welcome participants to the conference's first plenary session, where W. Kip Viscusi of Vanderbilt University will talk about society's willingness to pay for life-saving public policies.

Leading the second plenary session will be Columbia University economist Sherry Glied on how economic research influenced the recent health care debate and areas needed for further study as lawmakers implement the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The conference, sponsored by the Sloan Program in Health Administration and the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, is co-hosted by Syracuse University and the University of Rochester.

For more details visit http://ashecon2010.abstractbook.org/.