[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 186 (Tuesday, December 6, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8373-S8374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CELEBRATING THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF DR. HAL COHEN

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I rise to celebrate the 
distinguished career of Dr. Hal Cohen, an internationally renowned 
economist and professor, devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and 
my good friend.
  Harold Allen Cohen was born in New York on April 21, 1938. After 
earning his B.A. from the college that is now known as SUNY-Binghamton 
and his M.A. from Cornell University, Hal began his career in health 
care financing and public policy by earning a Ph.D. from Cornell 
University in 1967. After completing his education, he was awarded a 
prestigious fellowship with the National Science Foundation from 1969 
to 1971, which he followed with a year-long stint as an associate at 
the Danforth Foundation while teaching economics at the University of 
Georgia, first as an assistant and then as an associate professor.
  Hal then took a position that would come to define his career. In 
1972, he moved to Baltimore to become the executive director and 
founding member of the Health Services Cost Review Commission, or 
HSCRC, the State agency that regulates hospital rates in Maryland. As a 
member of the Maryland House of Delegates, I worked closely with Dr. 
Cohen during the formative years of the HSCRC, and while he is quick to 
say that he was surrounded by a tremendous group of colleagues, it was 
his leadership that cemented the HSCRC as a Maryland institution. His 
insight was and continues to be invaluable in containing hospital cost 
growth. Dr. Cohen worked to ensure that hospitals could provide 
efficient, high quality care to every Marylander as he focused on 
ensuring that hospital financing options were fair, accessible and 
equitable. Since 1976, the HSCRC has financed nearly $1 billion in 
uncompensated care, improving access for underinsured and uninsured 
Marylanders, and supporting hospitals' social mission while providing 
them greater financial stability.

[[Page S8374]]

  Since 1977, Maryland hospitals have been paid on the basis of the 
rates established by the HSCRC, ensuring that Maryland's health costs 
are kept low, and that its health system is tailored to the needs of 
its citizens. Under Hal's leadership, the State of Maryland has saved 
over $47 billion since 1976. The HSCRC has been essential in ensuring 
that each hospital in Maryland provides comprehensive care that 
includes assistance for the underinsured, as well as incorporating 
teaching and research programs into the structure of the hospital 
center.
  As Executive Director of the HSCRC, Dr. Cohen ushered the 
organization through its first 15 years. He worked to ensure that the 
agency would work well with Maryland hospitals, the Maryland State 
Legislature, and most importantly, for Maryland's citizens in a 
transparent and accountable fashion. The independent nature of the 
HSCRC allows the agency the ability to advocate for and support a 
legislative agenda, and Dr. Cohen used this ability over the length of 
his career to fight for fair and sustainable pricing structures that 
support hospitals and patients.
  The system set up by the HSCRC was so well-conceived that it has 
succeeded for nearly 35 years. All-payer rate setting is now being 
discussed by many leading health economists as an effective way to 
control the unsustainable growth in health care costs.
  Dr. Cohen's base of knowledge has been widely sought. He has served 
on three Federal committees, and he was a founding appointee to the 
Prospective Payment Assessment Commission--ProPAC. He has also served 
as a member of the National Committee on Rural Health, the National 
Committee of Vital and Health Statistics, and he served as Commissioner 
of the Maryland Health Care Access and Cost Commission from 1993 to 
1998. As Commissioner, he played a key role in improving quality and 
expanding health care access, by initiating HMO report cards to 
evaluate quality and establishing a small group market system to make 
insurance more affordable for small businesses.
  In 1985, 2 years before he would step down as the Executive Director 
of HSCRC, he founded Hal Cohen, Inc., a health care consulting firm 
located in Baltimore, MD to offer consulting services in the areas of 
hospital financing and public policy. He has served clients from every 
corner of the industry and all over the country, from the Federal 
Government to private insurers, from HMOs to self-insured companies.
  In addition to his significant and long-lasting professional impact, 
Dr. Hal Cohen is known throughout Baltimore as a loving husband and 
father. Hal and his wife, Jo, have been married for more than 50 years, 
and their family has grown to include their children--Robb, Gail, 
David, Heather, and Amy--and their five grandchildren--Lizzie, Alex, 
Max, Zhi, and Olive.
  Dr. Cohen's extensive work will continue to make Maryland a better 
place to live. His essential leadership was crucial in building the 
HSCRC as a force for fairness in health care pricing and for expanding 
patient access to health care. I thank him for his long service, and I 
congratulate him on his many years of putting the people of Maryland 
first--he is a public servant of the highest caliber, and I am proud to 
call him my trusted advisor and dear friend.

                          ____________________