How to Advance Evidence-Based Healthcare Policy at the State and Local Level

Every day, leaders in state capitols, cities, towns, and counties across America make decisions that profoundly affect their constituents’ lives. All too often, those decisions ignore the kind of information that academic and professional economists are equipped to provide. Plenary speakers at previous years’ ASHEcon conferences have thus urged economists to break out of their academic silos and work with state and local officials, changing policy choices to better align with evidence. Easier said than done! Rigorous academic education rarely gives economists the translational skills needed to effectively educate and motivate policymakers whose economics training ended with an introductory college course (if indeed it progressed that far). This session will set you on the road to mastering that challenge. The panel will be moderated by Jonathan Gruber, PhD, whose research profoundly shaped both the Affordable Care Act and 2006 Massachusetts legislation upon which much of the ACA was based. The panel also features three other experts: • Bowen Garrett, PhD, whose 20 years of work at the Urban Institute and McKinsey and Company featured numerous successful efforts that shaped important policy choices by state, federal, and private-sector leaders; • Stan Dorn, JD, who has partnered with economists during more than 30 years of state and national work to improve access to coverage and care, influencing five federal health statutes and policy choices by a broad range of states; and • Florence LeCraw, MD, who recently served on a research team led by Tom Mroz, PhD, analyzing the impact of a new malpractice program, Communication-and-Resolution Program (CRP), on liability outcomes. Dr. LeCraw and colleagues used this study to persuade the American Medical Association to change its previous policy and endorse CRP. Each panelist will share their observations of how economists have succeeded and failed in influencing past choices by national, state, local, and private leaders. Panelists will build on those observations to identify key lessons learned. Attendees will leave the session equipped with practical tools to guide their future efforts to bring solid evidence to bear in shaping important state and local decisions.