National Academy for State Health Policy

While it seems to me that most of the debate about healthcare policy happens at the national level, states actually bear a lot of the responsibility on that front. It makes sense in that they’re closer to the people they’re serving, but it also means that there are a lot of separate organizations doing the same things just in different places. The National Academy for State Health Policy is a non-profit that helps “states achieve excellence in health policy and practice” by working with each other. The organization is based in Portland, ME and Washington, DC, and they provide a “forum for constructive work across branches and agencies of state government on critical health issues.” While most functions will be duplicated across states, they’ll each have a slightly different take on health policy. The National Academy for State Health Policy allows these organizations to learn from how other are approaching the same issues.

Thank the Academy

The National Academy for State Health Policy is only going to become more relevant as the urgency surrounding health policy increases. They’ll continue to play an important role in policy decisions as they continue their mission to:

• Convene state leaders to solve problems and share solutions
• Conduct policy analyses and research
• Disseminate information on state policies and programs
• Provide technical assistance to states

If you really want to learn more about the organization, you may want to watch this keynote address by the ‘s Executive Director Alan Weil. It’s quite long, but it will give you a great overview of what they’ve done over the past 25 years (click through if you don’t see the video).

If you ended up watching that whole thing, then you definitely need to visit NASHP’s Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Research Assistant – Health System Performance National Academy for State Health Policy (Portland, ME), a Research Assistant – Coverage and Access (Washington, DC), and a Conference and Events Assistant (Portland, ME). All three positions look like they could be a great fit for a new grad.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NASHP.org
• Jobs at the National Academy for State Health Policy
• About the National Academy for State Health Policy
• Staff at the National Academy for State Health Policy
• National Academy for State Health Policy News

What do you know about the National Academy for State Health Policy?