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EEP 152 Spring 2018 Guideline for Policy Brief 1 Purpose of this document This handout reviews some guidelines for writing effective policy briefs. They are drawn from two sources including: – http://writingcenter.unc.edu/policy-briefs/ – https://web.stanford.edu/class/siw198q/modelppr/amber2.htm 2 What are Policy Briefs? A policy brief presents a concise summary of information that can help readers understand, and make decisions about government policies. Policy briefs may give objective summaries of relevant research, suggest possible policy options, or go even further and argue for particular courses of action. 3 Format 3.1 Overall Policy briefs should be no more than 1 page and include: 1. Title: A good title quickly communicates the contents of the brief in a memorable way. 2. Context: This section communicates the importance of the problem and aims to convince the reader of the necessity of policy action. 3. Proposed policies: This section details the current policy approach and explains proposed alternatives. It should be fair and accurate while describing the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed solutions. 4. Conclusion: This section contains a detailed explanation of the concrete steps to be taken to implement the most desirable solution to the policy issue. In what follows we present some details about each section. We illustrate these points through an example: you are assigned to read a number of articles on the federal mandate for infertility treatment coverage by insurance providers. These section notes were created by Matthew Pecenco and Erin Kelley Page 1 EEP 152 Spring 2018 3.2 Title The title should communicate the policy issue being highlighted in the brief “Federal Mandate for Infertility Treatment Coverage by Insurance Providers” 3.3 Context You need to 1) identify the problem for your policy brief and 2) communicate to the reader why it is important and why policy makers should care about it. “6 million Americans currently suffer from a medical disorder resulting in infertility. Because only 14%-17% of insurance companies provide coverage for fertility services, including assisted reproductive technologies, access to treatment is restricted to the affluent who pay high out-of-pocket expenses. Without insurance coverage, costs are spread across a small fraction of the population, increasing per capita rates for treatment and encouraging physicians to favor quicker and cheaper practices that compromise quality of care and raise health care costs.” 3.4 Proposed policies The proposed policy should detail some of the solutions that are proposed in the literature. For each solution, your policy brief should clearly detail it’s advantages and disadvantages. “A federal mandate for coverage would require all insurance companies to provide infertility treatment. This presents some clear advantages. It would provide coverage to all patients, reducing per capita costs and allowing insurance companies to negotiate discounts for services. It would also resolves ethical issue of discrimination under Americans with Disabilities Act and eliminates discrepancies between states. However, there are also some disadvantages. It would increases premiums for all payers, most without infertility problems and it would encourages more people to seek treatment, increasing costs Another solution is allow for optional state mandates, already successful in areas such as Illinois and Massachusetts, which would leave discretion to state legislatures. As already reflected in current legislation, the scope and restrictions of the initiatives would vary Page 2 EEP 152 Spring 2018 considerably, and the federal government would make no requirement stipulating mandatory coverage. This presents some advantages. Doctors, providers, and patients could be encouraged to limit costs without government intervention. Moreover, individualized policies could be developed depending on state demographics and less opposition from national insurance providers might be expected. However there are also some disadvantages. Namely, many current state policies have significant restrictions on coverage.” 3.5 Conclusion The conclusion should review the policy issue briefly (one or two sentences) and then detail which proposed policy is most effective and why. “With rising usage rates of infertility treatment, along with rising rates of multiple gestation, quick reform is necessary to ensure patients have access to cost-effective, quality care. Although state reform has worked in some areas, the time needed for broad implementation in states without current initiatives hurts the health of patients. A federal mandate without significant restrictions will increase access to many people in a short amount of time. While this option costs money, individual burden will be very minimal” Page 3