- 27 Mar, 2021
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Policy Brief assignment
: Bill Selection. Choose a federal-level healthcare bill that addresses
a healthcare problem of your choosing. You must choose a federal bill from
the 117th Congress (Jan. 3, 2021 to Jan. 2023). The bill must still be
pending. You may not select a bill that has already passed both the Senate
and the House or one that is waiting on signature from President. You may
use a bill that has only passed one of the congressional branches— either
the House or the Senate, but not both. It is recommended that you use
congress.gov, senate.gov, house.gov, legiscan.com, or the Thomas Library of
Congress to search for a health-related bill to analyze for thisbrief.
Step 2: Executive Summary. Begin your brief with an executive summary that
introduces the chosen healthcare issue. This will be your audience’s initial
contact with your brief so you want to make sure it is compelling so that they
continue to read.
In 1-2 paragraphs, you should (a) describe the issue, (b) address its impact,
(c) express why it’s timely to address this issue now, and (d) introducewhat
the major outcomes that would result from fixing the problem. Support this
section with relevant facts, figures, statistics, and costs.
Step 3: Background and Significance. Discuss how each of the following factors
relate to your problem. Include explanations of (a) how they contribute to
the existence and magnitude of your problem, and (b) how your problem
affects them:
A. Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
B. Physical Determinants of Health
C. The Economy
D. The Healthcare System
E. Ethics
Each of these should be developed and supported separately and include
facts, numbers, figures, research, and statistics to support your
statements. Specific SDOH and physical determinants and their
connection to your issue should be included. In your ethical section,
connect your discussion to a particular ethical factor or theory that is
relevant to your topic. This section should paint the picture of the farreaching impact of the issue. Focus on the problem and not potential
solutions, including the bill you chose.
Step 4: Historical Context. Summarize the history of your issue as a public health
concern. Discuss if the issue has been debated in the past and the major
opinions that prevailed. Lastly, summarize the past legislative attempts to
resolve this problem and their outcomes/impact.
Step 5: Policy Recommendation: Introduce your policy recommendation using
its bill number and title (if titled) and summarize what it is intended to do.
Support your selection of this bill by addressing (a) how it fills in gaps left
by previous legislation and (b) why it is preferred to other methods of
solving the problem. Support this section with evidence. Include a working
link to your bill.
Step 6: Criteria for Evaluation. This section is the central aspect of this
assignment and requires you to use evidence to analyze theeffectiveness,
efficiency, and equity (three Es) of the bill you selected as described below:
A. Effectiveness: Summarize current evidence describing how the
specific strategies proposed in the bill are effective at solving the
chosen problem. Discuss the immediate, short, and long term
outcomes that are achievable following the implementation of this bill.
B. Efficiency: Summarize current evidence that demonstrates how the
specific strategies in the bill are efficient. Include illustrations of cost
versus benefit and/or cost versus effectiveness. Broadly, discuss the
human, monetary, infrastructure, and technical resources required for
implementation as applicable and whether this is sustainable.
C. Equity: Discuss how the specific strategies in the bill have been shown
to impact health disparities and inequities. Also consider whether
implementation of the bill itself is equitable. Identify any concerns about
the fairness of cost sharing or burden of implementation.