The debate about health care reform is heating up as President Obama and Congress tackle the issues and draft plans. The president has called on Congress to have a bill ready by August.

Experts say change is necessary and will have a vast impact.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center, UNMC Physicians and The Nebraska Medical Center have formed a 14-member health care review group to study the issues that will affect the medical center and its employees.

The group can be an objective resource for elected officials, business and community entities in Nebraska in communicating the potential impact of health care reform proposals, said Bob Bartee, vice chancellor of external affairs at UNMC.

"Everyone has an interest in what happens, and we are taking a comprehensive look at various issues in health care reform," Bartee said. "We're watching all the issues and will do our best to interpret their impact on people and try to answer the questions that people will be asking."

Some of the issues of health care reform include:

How to pay for a public plan
Access to health care for the current 47 million uninsured
Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement
Graduate medical education pay for residents
Quality and safety issues.

Members of the medical center health care review group are:
John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of Medicine
Bob Bartee, vice chancellor of external affairs
Bob Bell, vice president for business and community development, UNeMed
Gerald Moore, M.D., professor of rheumatology, and senior associate dean for academic affairs
James Gigantelli, M.D., professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, assistant dean of government relations
John Benson, M.D., professor of internal medicine
Keith Mueller, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Public Health and health policy expert
Michael Sitorius, M.D., chairman of the Department of Family Medicine
Robert Wigton, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education
Thomas Tape, M.D., section chief, Department of Internal Medicine
Mark Bowen, director of government relations
Cory Shaw, CEO, UNMC Physicians
Bill Dinsmoor, chief financial officer at The Nebraska Medical Center; and
Harris Frankel, M.D., a private practice neurologist.