Public Goods for Private Gain: Financialization in U.S. Healthcare
This presentation provides an analysis of how and why financial actors, strategies, and calculations have increasingly penetrated healthcare organizations – a process referred to as ‘financialization.’ Professor Rosemary Batt will provide a historical and institutional argument for how and why financialization has emerged in healthcare over the last two decades and why it is important. She will draw upon a rich set of original case studies to explain what has happened to the financial stability of healthcare organizations, healthcare professionals and workers, patients, and communities. The talk will provide suggestions and a discussion of what reforms are promising and what more needs to be done.
Professor Batt’s talk will be followed by a reaction panel, moderated by Professor Johnnie Kallas and featuring Steve Merkin, AM 83, Retired Senior Advisor for RoundTable Healthcare Partners, Professor Andrew Weaver, and Jarrett Clem, IBEW Local #601 Business Manager. Mr. Clem is also the chairman of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)/National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) health and welfare trust.
The event will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28, 2025, at the School of Labor and Employment Relations, 504 East Armory Avenue, Champaign. A reception will follow.
RSVP is required: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/957603799
