HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS– Part 2

(200 points)

California maintains a website http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ (Links to an external site.) that follows proposed bills throughout the legislative process. Students will identify one key piece of legislation that is in the California state legislative process, session 2021-2022.

Students will select a bill (part 1) that has been proposed in response to a perceived public health problem and write an APA format and style paper that is three (3) pages in length (this is for the body of the paper, i.e. this excludes the cover page, abstract, etc.). The following rubric outlines what sections to include and what content to consider for each section (use APA headers in your final paper):

1 Abstract (30 points): Provide a 150-250 word abstract as a single paragraph without paragraph indention. This is a concise summary of the key points of your analysis (not the bill or health problem). It allows readers to quickly glance at the main purpose of each section of your paper. It should contain the health problem, what is the policy chosen and what it is trying to achieve, recommendations, and conclusions. Your abstract should be a single paragraph double-spaced. This should be one of the last sections you prepare for the outline assignment as the abstract is a summary of the main points of your paper.

2 Introduction to the problem (30 points): Create a succinct overview of the public health problem to be addressed. Introduce the general scope of the bill. Here you can include some very general statistics to lay the foundation of your analysis, but limit this as you will expand on this aspect in the next section.

3 The severity of health problem (30 points): Discuss the severity of the problem; the number of people affected by the identified problem and the proposed bill. Present and discuss more detailed numbers here (look up studies and reliable reports indicating patterns related to the specific aspect of the health problem you are addressing). Discuss the research behind the health problem (for example, is there a wide range of finding regarding its severity and how to best deal with it? Are there significant gaps in the research on the health problem?) Cite all references to the literature as required.

4 Overview of the bill and stakeholders (20 points): Create an brief overview of the proposed bill in terms of its specific provisions . Do not just discuss what the promoters promise it will accomplish, and do not copy the bill text, rather present it in your own words and cite as required. Make sure to read the fine print and see exactly what the bill will do. Do not simply paraphrase or list elements of the bill here.

5 Promoters and opposing groups (30 points): Discuss who the promoters of the bill and what the promoters of the bill believe the bill will accomplish (e.g. specific health outcomes). You will look beyond the bill document and bill analysis files.

Investigate which groups registered in support of and against the bill (not those who have voted for or against the bill). Do not report on members who have voted for or against the bill. Describe which individuals and/or groups are opposed to the bill, you may group them if there are many. Delineate what are their issues with the bill. You can research special interest groups, such as professional trade associations and industry groups to see what type of lobbying efforts are being made with respect to the bill. Focus on the bill analysis files as a starting point and look for those that registering their opposition to the bill.

Suggestions: review the bill analysis files, contact the author(s) of the bill, check out local news sources (I suggest ProQuest Global Newsstream database with appropriate filters). Perform Internet searches on groups listed or mentioned in the files, websites, and articles reviewed above. You must include what steps you have taken if there are no registered opposing groups for your chosen bill as you will still have to develop this section. Suggestions: look for related bills in the current or past sessions which you can find in the bill analysis files.

7 Recommendations and final analysis (20 points): Describe your recommendations based on your research and analysis of the bill; this is not the place to state your personal opinion or beliefs. Rather focus on how to improve the health outcomes described in the bill through recommendations that focus on the policy aspect. Substantiate your position with the facts and with support from the class readings, other relevant material discussed in class, as well as outside references.

8 Conclusion (20 points): Here you will wrap up what you have been discussing in your analysis above. After moving from general to specific information in the introduction and body paragraphs, your conclusion should begin pulling back into more general information that restates the main points of the health problem and how the bill addresses this particular problem.

9 Mechanics (20 points): readability, English usage, adherence to APA style (title page, abstract, body with specific headers, etc.). The reference section needs to include at least 8 quality sources that are appropriate for the specific section (for example, you will need reputable statistical sources for the severity section). The bill and all bill analysis files do NOT count toward this requirement.