Thursday, October 29, 2009

Last day of policy training classes

Yesterday was our last day of classroom federal health policy training. Our “classroom” has been the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Barbara Jordan conference center in downtown DC – a fantastic facility. We had an intriguing breakfast discussion with a registered lobbyist who has worked for Academy Health, the health research think tank that is running the training, and GAO. We had backgrounders on Medicare and state health policy and a session on how to communicate with policy leaders. Not surprisingly, advocacy at the federal level is a lot like the states – same motivations, same dynamics – but slower and more deliberative. This training is primarily for health services researchers; my classmates are very frustrated that research isn’t the only factor that drives health policymaking. It’s far worse at the state level. Today we go to the Hill for our last day of training.
Ellen Andrews