In this far-reaching and compelling Independent Conversation, U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions interviews the innovative economist and author Dr. John C. Goodman (Senior Fellow, Independent Institute; President, Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research), in a conversation hosted by Dr. Graham H. Walker (Executive Director, Independent Institute). They discuss Dr. Goodman's widely acclaimed Independent institute book, New Way to Care: Social Protections that Put Families First, on the need to create a market-based social safety net for all Americans.

The COVID-19 pandemic. ObamaCare. The Great Recession. The dot-com bust. The early ’90s recession. Every decade or so a disaster hits the United States and reminds us that many American families live one calamity away from financial ruin.

But what if there were a better way to help families protect themselves from life’s risks? And what if that way did not further bloat government bureaucracies and inflate even more their obscene budgets?

In his eye-opening book, New Way to Care: Social Protections that Put Families First, Dr. Goodman—the “The Father of Health Savings Accounts,” (Wall Street Journal)—offers a bold strategy for giving Americans more control over their destiny, while still advancing, at far less expense, the important social goals that gave rise to government safety-net programs in the first place. And in the process, solve the central issues of pre-existing conditions, affordability, portability, innovation, safety, reliability, and accountability.

Here are just a few of the life-risks to which Goodman presents solutions: • Growing too old and outliving one’s assets • Dying too young and leaving dependent family members without resources • Becoming disabled and facing financial catastrophe • Suffering a major health event and being unable to afford needed medical care

New Way to Care: Social Protections that Put Families First shows how smartly-crafted, private, market-based social protections best serve families, harmonize individual and societal interests, foster personal responsibility and government accountability, bridge the partisan divide over spending, and end the runaway deficits that will drive the U.S. over a fiscal cliff. Thanks to New Way to Care, the debate over social insurance will never be the same.

Graham H. Walker

Graham H. Walker is Executive Director and Assistant Editor for The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy at the Independent Institute. He received his Ph.D. in public law and government from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Walker has served as Associate Professor of Politics at Catholic University of America, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Visiting Scholar in Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ), Senior Research Scholar at the Witherspoon Institute, Headmaster at Oaks Christian School, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, President at Patrick Henry College, Legislative Aide to former Congressman David Stockman, and Fellow at the Presidio Institute.

John C. Goodman

John C. Goodman is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, President of the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research, and author of the widely acclaimed, Independent books, New Way to Care: Social Protections that Put Families First, A Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America, and the award-winning, Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis. The Wall Street Journal and the National Journal, among other media, have called him the “Father of Health Savings Accounts.” Dr. Goodman received his Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University, he has been President and Kellye Wright Fellow in Health Care at the National Center for Policy Analysis, and he has taught and completed research at Columbia University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Southern Methodist University and the University of Dallas.

Pete Sessions

Peter A. "Pete" Sessions represents Texas's 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, having formerly represented the 32nd Congressional District (1997-2019), and he has also served as Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He graduated from Southwestern University in 1978, where he now serves on the Board of Trustees. An Eagle Scout and former Scout Master for 13 Eagle Scouts, he is a recipient of the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and is a member of both the National Eagle Scout Association’s national committee and the Executive Board of the Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America.