GSPA

This course will address the question: "What is America's health policy and how is health policy impacted by politics?" It is designed for students from the public and non-profit sectors who have an interest in health issues. Course readings and discussion will focus on culture, power, and politics in the social construction of health financing and delivery. Specific areas covered include Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, interest groups, federal issues, and state issues in health policy. Later in the semester, the focus of the course will narrow to Colorado issues and each student will be asked to develop a project focusing on some aspect of Colorado's health policy.

Dr. Julia Robinson served as an executive manager in human service agencies in Wyoming and Montana for twenty years before moving into academic settings. She served as the cabinet level director of the Montana Department for Social and Rehabilitation Services from 1989 to 1993. In this position, she was responsible for annual budgets of over $400 million in state and federal funds and 900 staff, serving diverse populations across a large geographic area.

From 1990 to 1993, Dr. Robinson chaired the Governor's initiative to improve Montana's health care system. The initiative resulted in the passage of nine bills. Montana was cited by the American Legislative Exchange Council as the most comprehensive state health care legislative package passed in 1991. Her article "Developing a National Health Care Policy: An Elephantine Dilemma" appeared in the May/June 1997, Public Administrative Review. Dr. Robinson holds a doctorate in public adminstration from the University of Southern California.