Building Blocks: An Orientation to Health Policy for State Legislators

Frequently Asked Questions

Preface

This set of briefing papers on important health policy topics is part of an orientation package for state legislators on the fundamentals of state health policy. This package is geared mainly toward the information needs of newly elected legislators who serve on a standing health committee or for veteran legislators who are newly appointed to a health committee.

Each paper provides basic, introductory information on the most common policy and program areas addressed by state health committees. These include: Health Care Access, Health Information Technology, Insurance and Managed Care, Long-Term Care, Medicaid, Mental Health, Prescription Drugs, Quality of Care, SCHIP, Substance Abuse and the Health Care Workforce. Each paper identifies the questions most frequently asked by legislators about the topic and provides answers that are brief, objective and non-technical. Several additional briefing papers on other health policy topics will be issued during the year.

Building Blocks: An Orientation to Health Policy for State Legislators is a product of the Forum for State Health Policy Leadership, an entity within the National Conference of State Legislatures. Funding for the orientation package was made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey.

To learn more about the Forum for State Health Policy Leadership, go to http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/forum.

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Forum for State Health Policy Leadership