Health and Food Policy
Clients and Collaborators
In recent years, we have worked with a range of public and nonprofit clients on community food policy, health reform, genetic discrimination, community health workers, and other issues. See our list of health-related clients and collaborators here.
Food and nutrition – Obesity rates continue to rise, particularly in young children and low-income areas. Children and adults in low-income areas do not have equal access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their communities and schools and suffer higher rates of obesity and diabetes. We work with School Food FOCUS, a non-profit of large school districts that want to purchase unprocessed local food within the federal framework for local or geographic preferences and state procurement law. Recent work:
- School district rationale for geographic preferences
- Presentation on geographic preference - Chicago, 2012 - Evie Goryshina and Erin Hammers
Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid – In 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid over $70 billion in fraudulent billings. The Affordable Care Act expanded tools for CMS and other federal agencies to prevent fraud in health care. As part of an interdisciplinary team, we work with CMS to develop alternatives to the "pay and chase model" to save scarce resources and protect patients from unnecessary medical procedures.
Genetic discrimination – People increasingly use genetic testing to learn about their health risks. But when marketed directly to consumers, the tests can be misleading. The federal Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits the use of genetic testing for employment or health insurance. But GINA left states to regulate genetic testing for long-term, disability and life insurance. We prepared a policy guide and consumer education materials for the State of Maryland. Recent work:
- State guide to deceptive practices in genetic testing - Anya Prince
- Survey of state law regulating genetic information in insurance markets - Danielle Perlman
Legal barriers to federal health reform – The recent Supreme Court illustrates that advocates of health reform must anticipate legal barriers and challenges to every path they pursue. We coordinated a major effort for the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown, which provided policymakers with 13 papers on legal barriers and a range of solutions for each. Recent work:
