Week 9: Politics and Policy Analysis of the Affordable Care Act

Max Baucus

Democratic senator, chair of finance committee.

Liz Fowler

Counsel on Health Policy for Baucus.

Ted Kennedy

Democratic senator, chair of HELP committee.

Senate Collaboration

Baucus and Kennedy worked together on reforms.

Political Ideology

Coherent set of beliefs, e.g., liberal vs conservative.

PhRMA

Pharmaceutical lobby group led by Billy Tauzin.

AHIP

Insurance lobby group led by Karen Ignagni.

Healthcare Summit 2008

Bipartisan meeting focused on expanding coverage.

Outputs

Measurable products of an agency's actions.

Outcomes

Effects of policy implementation, intended or unintended.

Policy Analysis

Tools to assess outcomes of policy ideas.

Correlation vs. Causation

Distinction between related events and cause-effect.

Spurious Relationship

Third variable influences both program and effect.

Regression to the Mean

Tendency for extreme values to return to average.

Social Desirability Bias

Respondents may lie to appear favorable.

Randomized Field Experiments

Research using treatment and control groups.

Technical Perspective

Focus on addressing specific problems with solutions.

Political Perspective

Public preferences influence policy acceptance.

Bipartisan

Involving members from both major political parties.

Healthcare Policy

Framework guiding health system decisions and actions.

Policy Outputs

Laws, regulations, and services produced by agencies.

Research Challenges

Difficulties in assessing policy effects accurately.