(Philadelphia, PA) – Ralph W. Muller, Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and current Commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), will address the nation’s health-care CEOs on “The Fiscal Impact of Medicare Reform” at the 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress, to be held April 17-19, 2006, in Washington, D.C.

As part of Muller’s presentation (to occur Tuesday, April 18th, from 11:15 AM to 12 PM), he will address the many challenges presented by Medicare reform – including its complex benefits design, the number of choices available, its enrollment shortfall, and its current implementation. Muller’s perspective -- enhanced by his dual roles as CEO of one of the nation’s largest health systems and Commissioner of MedPAC, which advises Congress on Medicare policies -- is that the planned privatization of Medicare Part D, the prescription-drug portion of the plan, is not necessarily a panacea in that it tends to favor the wealthy and healthy.

The 3rd Annual 2006 World Health Care Congress is the most progressive forum to achieve an affordable, accountable U.S. health-care system. Co-sponsored by The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, the 2006 conference will include leading government officials and more than 1700 CEOs and senior executives from the nation’s largest employers, hospitals, health systems, health plans, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Since May 2003, Ralph Muller has served as Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) -- the patient-care and clinical-research portion of PENN Medicine, a $2.9 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, translational biomedical research, and quality patient-care. UPHS consists of three hospitals (including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center), a faculty practice plan, a primary-care provider network, two multispecialty satellite facilities, and home care and hospice.

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PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals [Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is consistently ranked one of the nation's few "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.