At the Library: Let’s talk health care

After seven-plus years of legislative debate, voting, media focus and public discussion on health care for Americans — not counting “The Original Medicare” (Medicare and Medicaid) legislative enactment and amendment controversies going back 50 years to President Johnson (1965) — there are still many, many more questions than answers.

On Thursday, August 10 at 5:30 p.m., Professor Andrew M. Flescher of Stony Brook University and Howard Goldstein, a specialist in the field of employee benefits, will tackle queries posed by Islanders as they lead a discussion at the Shelter Island Library entitled “Health Care Legislation Today: A Dialogue.” The speakers, who hold opposing opinions on current legislation, will discuss pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act, the Republican plan(s) as well as other key issues, such as “right versus entitlement” and what each speaker thinks is the best solution to our health care crisis.

Andrew M. Flescher is a professor of family, population, and preventive medicine and English at the State University of New York and core faculty in the program in public health. He also serves on Stony Brook’s organ donor council and hospital ethics committee. He holds a BA in Medieval and Renaissance studies and History from Duke, an MA and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Brown. He is the author of “Heroes, Saints, and Ordinary Morality” (2003), “The Altruistic Species” (2007), “Moral Evil” (2013), and “The Organ Shortage Crisis in America” (fall, 2017). Dr. Flescher is a living donor advocate at Stony Brook Hospital and, on July 1, began a three-year term on the ethics committee of UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Howard Goldstein is a specialist in the field of employee benefits and Affordable Care Act compliance who often speaks on specific employee benefits topics to business organizations and provides “on the ground” information to insurance companies. He is also an in-house agent for the New York City Hospitality Alliance and the Actor’s Fund. He was the health insurance resource quoted in the award-winning book, “Getting Things off My Chest: A Survivor’s Guide to Staying Fearless and Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer,” by Melanie Young.

Join us at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 10 at the Community Room at the library — it’s free, with donations greatly appreciated.

For further information, call (631) 749-0042.