State Health Policy Leadership

Last year’s “repeal and replace” fight in Congress underscored how deep—and deeply confusing—disagreements over health care policy can be. Author David K. Jones traveled to Colorado and Kansas to find out what Republican and Democrat legislators were concerned about now when it comes to health reform. What does the bipartisan conversation look like in these states? More

The opioid epidemic has spawned numerous state efforts to develop strategies to combat the crisis. While each strategy on its own may be worthwhile, effectively coordinating these efforts will likely prove to be the key to reducing the number of families and communities damaged by opioid abuse. Summarizing the critical experience of senior officials working on the crisis, this issue brief identifies the key ingredients in a coordinated state opioid strategy. More

We know that state health policy can play an important role in improving population health. But where have there been objective improvements in the health of residents? How were those improvements achieved and what are the lessons? More

In 2016, the original directors of the state-based insurance exchanges came together to reflect on their experiences implementing this option under the Affordable Care Act. This issue brief summarizes their collective lessons, using the state health capacities framework developed in a report published earlier this month on “State Policy Capacity and Leadership for Health Reform.” How leaders make decisions and implement new health polices is especially timely given the continuing debate about changes to the Affordable Care Act. More

What does it take in terms of staff, leadership, and resources to plan and implement new policies? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have been the largest complex piece of social policy legislation passed by Congress since Medicaid and Medicare—and it won’t be the last. This report examines state health policy capacity and leadership—and is especially important given the continuing debate about changes to the ACA and improving health care delivery in the United States. More