General Session & Keynote Speakers
The NAHC 2006 National Home Care & Hospice Policy Conference and Law Symposium will host a number of seasoned experts and Washington insiders to provide a broad view
of the coming trends in politics and policy that will affect the delivery of home and hospice care.
Speakers include:
Sunday, March 26, 2006, 3-5pm
HONORABLE ROBERT J. DOLE
Author, War Hero, Statesman, Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and Humanitarian
 Senator Robert J. Dole will be remembered as one of the giants of 20th Century America. He is a hero in every sense of the word, a man who has consistently devoted his life to the service of others.
He was raised in Russell, Kansas. He volunteered for military service and was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Division in Italy during World War II. He was gravely wounded on the battlefield and twice decorated for his heroic achievements. His battle to overcome adversity and to rehabilitate himself in the face of severe injuries was the subject of a 2005 autobiography, One Soldier's Story. This best selling book is a tribute to those who defended liberty in its darkest hour, and brings hope and inspiration to all who read it.
After his recovery, Bob Dole selected a career in public service, first with ten years in the House of Representatives and then 26 years in the United States Senate. His achievements in Congress are nothing short of legendary. He became Chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over all tax and trade legislation including such issues as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He twice became Senate Majority Leader, making him one of the three most powerful people in America.
Bob Dole never forgot his roots. He was throughout the champion of the farmer, the small businessman, of veterans and vulnerable groups such as the aged, infirm, disabled and dying Americans. Two of his proudest achievements include the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the enactment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, both of which were accomplished in tandem with his great friend and Democratic Leader in the Senate, George Mitchell. President Ronald Reagan said of Dole, "Leader is not just a job title; it is a description of a man."
Bob Dole's ability to lead brought him the Chairmanship of the Republican Party and his party's nomination for Vice President. Later, in 1996, he resigned his post in the U.S. Senate to campaign as the Republican Party's candidate for President. Although he lost to the incumbent President Bill Clinton, the two have remained great friends. In 1996, President Clinton awarded Senator Dole the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Although leaving the U.S. Senate was difficult after 26 years, Senator Dole found there were many things he could do to help others. He agreed to be Chairman of the National World War II Memorial, and raised over $170 million for this monument to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect American freedoms. Following September 11, he joined with former President Bill Clinton to raise millions for the victims of that tragedy and their families. In 2003, he agreed to cochair President Bush's President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. In this same year he agreed to serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Caring Institute, an organization inspired by Mother Teresa that seeks to promote the values of caring, integrity and public service.
As noted above, Senator Dole is an author. His other two books are on political humor: Great Presidential Wit, I Wish I was in this Book and Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House. Dole is a frequent guest on late night talk shows, the star of two Super Bowl commercials, and a renowned political commentator. He is a strong advocate of hospice and home care, and serves as Counsel to NAHC. In 2003, he played a central role in helping to defeat an onerous copayment provision pending in legislation, that would have severely limited access of Medicare beneficiaries to home health benefits. He is married to the Honorable Elizabeth Dole, the current Senator from North Carolina.
HONORABLE TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Governor of Wisconsin, Humanitarian, Claude Pepper Award Winner
 The Claude Pepper Award is given every year to the one person who, in the judgment of NAHC, has done the most to improve the quality of life for older Americans. This year, the Award will be presented to the Honorable Tommy G. Thompson, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Secretary Thompson served in the Cabinet from 2001 to 2005. He was the 19th person to head the Department, which employs more than 60,000 people with a 2005 budget of $584 billion-almost a third of the Federal budget.
Secretary Thompson led the Administration's efforts to amend Medicare to cover prescription drugs. He succeeded in this goal where many others before him had tried and failed. He also began a crusade to encourage Americans to lead healthier lifestyles. He encouraged citizens to refrain from smoking, to eat responsibly and exercise more. He began the battle against obesity, which is often a precursor to diabetes. He led the efforts to protect the public from more terrorist attacks such as the anthrax episode that paralyzed the U.S. Senate for several weeks in 2001. He helped streamline the department to be able to respond to any public emergency such as the bombing of the World Trade Center. He chaired the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and led the U.S. and worldwide efforts to stem these virulent diseases. He also began an initiative to share government information about hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies to guide consumers in their choice of providers. Additionally, he pushed relentlessly for the integration of technology into health care, establishing the Office of Health Information Technology.
Secretary Thompson came to Washington extremely well prepared for his post at HHS. He began his public service in 1966 as a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, becoming Minority Leader there in 1971. He was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1987 and made history by being elected four times, serving until 2001. As Governor, he worked to revitalize the state's economy, and gained national attention for his welfare-to-work plan, which became the model for federal legislation signed into law by President Bill Clinton. He expanded health care coverage for low income children and families under the Children Health Insurance Program, created Pathways to Independence, and a program which allowed disabled individuals to enter the workforce without fear of losing health benefits. He fought to make Wisconsin schools from kindergarten through college top notch, and created FamilyCare, designed to help elderly and disabled citizens to receive care in their homes, and avoid placement in an institution for as long as possible.
In private practice today, Secretary Thompson continues his fight to improve the quality of health and welfare for all Americans. No one has done more. Because of the exemplary manner in which he has lived his life, he deserves the respect and commendation of all Americans.
RUTH L. CONSTANT, Ed.D, MSN, CHCE, FHHC
Chairman of the Board, National Association for Home Care & Hospice
 Ruth L. Constant is the Chairman of the Board of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. This post caps a career of nearly 40 years of service in home care and hospice.
Ms. Constant received her RN degree from the University of Texas in 1966, and her MSN from the same school in 1972. In 1983, she received her doctorate in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University.
Ms. Constant is known for her leadership and vision. For example, she developed the first Medicare certified home health agency in Texas in 1966. Today she is the owner/CEO of three Texas home health agencies: Beaumont Home Health Services, Port Arthur Home Health Service and Wichita Home Health Services.
Ms. Constant was a founding member of the Texas Association for Home Care in 1969, serving as its president in 1970 and again in 1986-88. At the national level, she was a founding board member of the National Association for Home Health Agencies until it was merged into the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). She served NAHC as its Region VI Representative, Private Not-for-Profit Representative, and as the representative of the Home Care Nurses Association. Including her three years as chairman, Ms. Constant has served on the board of NAHC for 12 of the 24 years that it has been in the business. She also served as an original board member of the Foundation for Hospice and Home Care.
Ms. Constant has been recognized with numerous awards, including the highest awards from both NAHC and TAHC. In Texas, she was appointed to the Governor's Advisory Council on Health Care, and to the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health Planning. She was named a fellow of the Foundation for Hospice and Home Care. In 2003, she was appointed by Chairman Robert Dole as an honorary trustee of the Caring Institute.
Ms. Constant is also an author who contributes regularly to CARING magazine and various nursing and educational journals. In 1991, she published Professional Style: The Look of Success, which made her in much demand as a public speaker. Ms. Constant is a member of the National Speakers Association.
She is today the most venerated and respected person in the field of home care. She is the personification of an industry that cares deeply about the welfare of others, and which employs the most
professional methods, including the latest technology, to see to their well being.
VAL J. HALAMANDARIS, JD
President, National Association for Home Care & Hospice
 Val J. Halamandaris was named President of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice on its birthday, March 10, 1982. For the past 24 years, he has guided the organization to become one of the most respected in Washington, D.C. Under his direction, NAHC has helped raise public awareness and the acceptance of home care and hospice from 10 percent to more than 80 percent of the U.S. public.
At that time there was no hospice program, and expenditures for home care were too small to measure. Today, expenditures for these programs make up the fastest growing part of the health care economy. Paid home care and hospice spending from all sources is approaching $100 billion. The number of people cared for in home care and hospice now exceeds the number who on any given year are cared for in hospitals and nursing homes.
These gains were possible because Halamandaris recruited a top flight staff which has increased from 1 to 65. He helped unify the industry, which although it was tiny, was represented by five national organizations, four of which have been merged into NAHC. Membership increased from 200 to more than 5,000
organizations.
Under his leadership, NAHC has enjoyed unprecedented success in Congress, having garnered support from both parties, including conservatives and liberals alike. Last year, Halamandaris was chosen to make the Keynote Speech before the National Governors Association, which resulted in the NGA naming long term care as the number one problem facing America, and pointing to home care as the best solution for it.
Halamandaris is a native of the state of Utah. He worked his way through college by being on the staff of Senator Frank E. Moss, and continued working full time as he completed his law degree from Catholic University Law School. He served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the U.S. House Committee on Aging. In a Congressional career that spanned 20 years, his legislative achievements were vast. For example, he helped write the Medicare and Medicaid Home Health Benefit into law, authored the first Medicare Hospice Bill and helped guide it through Congress, helped create Federal minimum standards for nursing homes, created the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Human Services, created Medicaid Fraud Units, made fraud against Medicare and Medicaid a felony, outlawed kickbacks among Medicare and Medicaid providers, and helped create the National Institutes of Aging and the National Institute on Arthritis at the National Institutes of Health.
Halamandaris is something of a renaissance man. In addition to being a trade association executive, he is an attorney, author, publisher, editor, producer of films for television, a published photographer and a humanitarian.
Since coming to NAHC, he founded The Caring Institute, The Frederick Douglass Museum, The Foundation for Hospice and Home Care, The Center for Health Care Law, CARING magazine, and The World Home Care and Hospice Organization. Most recently, he helped found the Home Care Technology Association, the Private Duty Home Care Association and the Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association.
He has been called a "visionary" and was featured in the television series by the same name, hosted by Sam Waterson. His work has been praised by Medical World News, The Washington Post, Parade Magazine and CBS 60 Minutes. The Creative Thinking Association selected him as one of the people who will have the greatest positive impact on America in the 21st century. His leadership skills have been lauded by management experts such as Mike Vance, Stephen Covey, Lance Secretan and Sam Geist. Congressman Pepper said he was "the best person he had worked with in his more than 50 years of government service." He has won more than his share of awards including the National Ellis Island Award in 2003. He has been one of the nation's most acknowledged experts on the U.S. Congress, and in the fields of health care and aging for more than 40 years.
Monday, March 27, 2006, 8:30-10:30am
Keynote Speaker
JUDY WOODRUFF
Author, Humanitarian, Broadcast Journalist with CNN Inside Politics, NBC, CBS
 Judy Woodruff is one of the most respected and admired figures in broadcast journalism. She is renown for her integrity, her intelligence, and for her compassion. Her career is an extension of her philosophy that broadcast journalism is the ultimate form of public service. Such has been her success, that she has been frequently chosen to moderate presidential debates and has been honored with awards named for other giants in the broadcast industry including Edward R. Murrow and Allen H. Newharth.
Ms. Woodruff is best known to millions as CNN's anchor of Inside Politics, the first daily national program devoted exclusively to politics. Since joining CNN in 1993, Ms. Woodruff covered many important assignments and developed a number of innovations. For example, in 2004, Woodruff and CNN developed a mobile news-room, taking to the road 60 times to provide live coverage from battleground states in the most highly contested political election in American history. Ms. Woodruff was asked to moderate the first presidential forum of Democratic
candidates in October 2003 and the final presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry in 2004.
Ms. Woodruff led the network coverage of such events as the war in Iraq, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the February 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, the recall of the election in California and the subsequent election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor. She also led CNN's coverage of the 2000 election including election night and Florida's historic recount as well as the U.S. Supreme Court's certification of George W. Bush as the winner of the election. In 1995, Ms. Woodruff traveled to Beijing to cover the U.N. World Conference on Women. She moderated CNN's first two "Global Forum" town meetings with President Bill Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter.
Prior to joining CNN in 1993, Ms. Woodruff was the Chief Washington correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS. Ms. Woodruff spent 11 years there, including six years as anchor of a weekly documentary series Frontline with Judy Woodruff. During the 1988 Presidential election, Woodruff moderated the Vice Presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen.
Prior to joining NewsHour, Ms. Woodruff worked for NBC News. She began with the network reporting from Atlanta in 1975 where she covered, among other events, the Presidential campaign of then-Governor Jimmy Carter. From 1977-1982, she was NBC News's White House Correspondent covering both the Carter and the Reagan Administrations. During this time, she was also chief Washington, D.C. correspondent for NBC's Today Show. Before moving to the network, Ms. Woodruff was a correspondent for WAGA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1970-1974.
Ms. Woodruff has received many awards and honors including the 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award for continuous coverage of September 11 terrorist attacks. In 1997, she won a News and Documentary Emmy for outstanding coverage of the Centennial Olympic Park Bombing. With Bernard Shaw, she won a Cable Ace Award for best anchor team in 1996. In 1995, Ms. Woodruff won the same award for Best News Anchor. In 1994, she was named the recipient of the President's 21st Century Award from the National Women's Hall of Fame. In that same year, she and her husband, Al Hunt, were named Washingtonians of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine for their fundraising and public awareness work to fight the disease Spina Bifida. She and her husband have three children including Jeff who 23 years ago was born with Spina Bifida. Ms. Woodruff has supported numerous other philanthropic causes, such as serving on the boards of the Freedom Forum and the Urban Institute. She is also a founding co-chair of the International Women's Media Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging women in communication industries world wide and an author of This is Judy Woodruff at the White House.
Keynote Speaker
BOB BECKEL
Television Commentator, Columnist for USA Today, Author, College Professor, Diplomat and Political Consultant
 Bob Beckel is one of the brightest and most respected people in Washington, DC. He has served in important positions at the White House and in the Department of State. He has managed political campaigns and offered advice to candidates. As a commentator and analyst whose career spans both print and broadcast journalism, he has become a revered presence in national publications and on network television shows. He is also a humanitarian who has supported numerous causes and spends time helping to educate the next generation of political leaders as a graduate school professor at George Washington University.
Mr. Beckel is a native of Montana who completed his college work at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. While he was a student in 1968, Beckel volunteered in Robert Kennedy's 1968 campaign for President. Thereafter, he listened to the voice from within that called him to serve a tour of duty in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. Subsequently, he opened his own political consulting firm.
Mr. Beckel campaigned for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and joined the government when he was elected President. He took the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State where he successfully steered the controversial Panama Canal Treaty through Congress. His success was rewarded with a post in the White House where he was responsible for coordinating efforts to press Congress into passing the MidEast and Salt II Treaties.
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected President, Mr. Beckel left the White House to resume his career as a political consultant. He did this until 1984 when Walter Mondale, Vice President in the Carter Administration, asked him to manage his campaign for the presidency.
Mr. Beckel served as the National Campaign Manager where he developed, coordinated, and exercised oversight responsibility for every aspect of the campaign. He is credited with helping Vice President Mondale bounce back after a defeat in New Hampshire to win the Democratic nomination. Mr. Beckel, who has a gift for the language, coined the catch phrase, "Where's the beef?" to suggest that another candidate lacks experience or gravitas. The phrase has become a permanent part of the American political lexicon.
When President Ronald Reagan was reelected in 1984, Mr. Beckel went back to managing his political consultant firm where he is much in demand. He advises his clients on everything from media strategy to the key elements of building a grassroots network. He is one of the most knowledgeable people in the nation on political issues. He is said to have a rare gift of being able to feel the pulse of the American public and to identify solutions to seemingly insolvable problems.
Mr. Beckel has been a regular guest on CNN's Crossfire where he serves as senior political analyst. For three years he co-hosted Crossfire with Lynne Cheney. He appears regularly on CBS Morning News' The Morning Show along with his counterpart, Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard. He and former GOP Chairman Haley Barbour, now Governor of Mississippi, frequently appeared together as political analysts for national and international broadcasts over the past 12 years. Mr. Beckel for many years was the guest host for Larry King Live. He is seen regularly on the Fox News Channel's Hannity and Combs. His column, "Common Ground," co-authored by Cal Thomas, appears regularly in USA Today. He is a syndicated news columnist with the Tribune Media Services, which will be launching a new column featuring him in February 2006.
Mr. Beckel is first, last, and always a public servant. He has looked at his career and the various positions in it as an opportunity to help make life better for others. Mr. Beckel has given generously of his time and money to numerous causes and organizations including The Caring Institute. He is married to Leland Beckel, and they have two children. He is also a strong advocate of hospice and home care services.
Wednesday, March 27, 2006, 12:00-1:30pm
CATHERINE CRIER
Attorney, Judge, Author, Broadcast Journalist CNN, ABC News, Fox News Anchor and CourtTV
 Catherine Crier is one of the most respected people in broadcast journalism today. She is a familiar face to millions of Americans who remember her on CNN, ABC News, the Fox News and, since 1999, on CourtTV.
Audiences love her because of her keen intellect, her passion for justice, her drive to find the truth, her integrity in presenting the facts, and her tremendous empathy for people.
Her story is truly remarkable. A native of Dallas, Texas, she earned her B.A. degree from the University of Texas and her law degree in two and a half years from Southern Methodist University Law School. From 1978-81 she worked in the Dallas County District Attorney's Office and for two years after that she was in a civil litigation practice. In 1984 she ran and was elected a State District Judge-the youngest elected judge in Texas history.
Some eight years later she was recruited by CNN. She was asked to co-anchor Inside Politics, which analyzed the political process, and The World Today, the premiere CNN nighttime newscast. In addition, she hosted Crier and Company, a live, half-hour news talk show.
ABC News was successful in recruiting Crier, who spent three and a half years with the network. She was featured as a regular substitute for Peter Jennings on ABC's World News Tonight and for Ted Koppel on Nightline, as well as worked as a correspondent on ABC's 20/20, the primetime news magazine program. In 1996 she was awarded an Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism in connection with her report "The Predators", which examined nursing home conditions in the United States.
Prior to joining CourtTV, she anchored "The Crier Report" for the Fox News Channel, a live one-hour daily program where she interviewed leading newsmakers of the day as well as celebrities.
Ms. Crier joined CourtTV's distinguished list of anchors in 1999 where she served as Executive Editor of Legal News Special as well as hosting Catherine Crier Live, a fast-paced, daily, live program which examines the legal issues behind the day's front page news stories. Crier previously anchored Crier Today and CourtTV's signature prime time series The System. At CourtTV, Crier has been recognized with a Dupont Columbia Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting and with two Gracie Allen Awards, one given to television's outstanding host and another for best television special.
Ms. Crier is also a best selling author. Her first book, The Case Against Lawyers, shares her outrage at the state of the U.S. judicial system, as well as her recommendations for reform.
Ms. Crier spends much of her time inspiring young women to follow their dreams and be all they can be. Her work demonstrates the advice for a successful life from the prophet Micah: "Love mercy, do justly and walk humbly with God."
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