Topic:

The General Welfare Debates is a debate event hosted by Patrick Henry College.  It prompts students to present scholarly research and proposals to distinguished panelists on topics that relate to the pursuit of human flourishing in society.

This year, the topical objective of the event is to identify the best policies to promote the medical health and wellbeing of patients that depend on reoccurring prescriptions to live life to its fullest.  The debate concerning insulin pricing is not a new one, and it directly impacts the life of millions of people daily.  The exact wording of the topic is:

The US government should cap the costs of insulin and other life-saving treatments for chronic conditions.

The event tasks affirmative teams with presenting the most exhaustive and well-researched case possible for a price cap on insulin and other, similarly situated medications.  Negative teams may merely oppose the implementation of a cap, but are encouraged to present some alternative policy that would minimize cost to patients utilizing prescriptions covered by the topic.  The status quo does not offer patients many affordable options, so simplistic opposition to a price cap without some alternative method of cost mitigation is unlikely to persuade panelists.  The purpose of this event, after all, is to test the legitimacy of proposed policy solutions through dialogue and questioning, and to hone the advocate’s rhetoric skills along the way.

Each team should be prepared to affirm and oppose the specific language of the topic in alternating presentations.  The exact breadth of the terms “life-saving treatments” and “chronic conditions” can be determined by the ambition of the affirmative teams.  At a minimum, affirmative teams must propose and defend a price-capping policy for insulin and at least one other similarly situated medication of their choice.  This will improve the variety of content round-to-round for the competitors and judges. 

The two teams recognized by the panelists as having the strongest researched proposals and presentation skills over three rounds will advance to a final dialogue, where they will offer their research before a new panel of judges who will identify a final winner.  

Location:

Competition is 100% virtual, to be conducted over Zoom.

The link for the event is here: https://phc-edu.zoom.us/j/88081786432?pwd=T2pvWFE0aklrMVhvR1NOaHFnNWJlQT09

Format:

Teams are composed of two students each

Times for speeches:

-          Affirmative Presentation (10 Minutes)

o   Cross examination (3 minutes)

-          Negative Presentation (10 Minutes)

o   Cross Examination (3 Minutes)

-          Judges Ask Questions of Affirmative Team (3 minutes maximum)

-          Judges Ask Questions of Negative Team (3 minutes maximum)

-          Negative Closing Statements (4 minutes)

-          Affirmative Closing Statements (4 minutes)

Schedule: [all times in EST]

April 9: Saturday

-          8:45 AM: Team Check-in

-          9:00 AM: Judge Briefing

-          9:30 AM: Round 1

-          11:00 AM: Round 2

-          12:30 PM: Lunch Break

-          1:30 PM: Round 3

-          3:30 PM: Final Presentations

-          5:00 PM: Awards

Registration:

Please register you teams here:  https://forms.gle/nE3Df8sPoXvX19WY9  

Judges can register here: https://forms.gle/w5dhHzP9WchFfjDC9

Contact Information:

If you have any questions that arise before or during the event, please don’t hesitate to contact Ryan McDonald at rjmcdonald@phc.edu or (808) 343-0596. 

Patrick Henry College is excited to host you all on April 9! 

Warm Regards,

Ryan McDonald

Head Coach

PHC Debate