A Letter from the HPSA President

My fellow HPSA Wolverines,

As we return to campus and find ourselves acclimating to student life, our Congressional leaders plan to reconvene following their final summer recess. During the roughly 138 days since our last classes, the political back-and-forth we witnessed this summer is sure to have left our Senators exhausted. Having interned overseas, I was exhausted finding myself every day trying to explain the AHCA/ACA/BCRA discussions that clogged not only domestic news channels, but international as well. Americans’ attention is targeted on health care and the fate of many insurance plans, marketplaces, and laws. What will come next? Will there be an increase in premiums? Will I lose my insurance? What will come of my current coverage?

There are continuous inefficiencies, biases, and inequalities within our health system that need to be addressed and rectified. Now more than ever, we need to combine our collective talents, experiences, and passions to accept more than the status quo. As a nation, we have united in focus and uncertainty, despite the highly polarized and politicized nature of "health care". While we as health policy students may not all have career aspirations to work on the Hill, there is the blatant reality that health care policy will affect us, our neighbors, our professions.

In studying health policy (and management!), we students have an opportunity now, more than ever, to commit ourselves to understanding the nuances of health care policy in all of its forms as well as how the political process to enact and evaluate policy is evolving. The executive board of HPSA and I plan to engage and enable our colleagues to set the precedent on what we as students can contribute. We hope to discuss the situation not only on the Hill but also that within the field. We urge our peers to engage in discussions that will stimulate a deeper discussion, pursue solutions, and find their own voice to continue to promote the health of Americans, and continue to set the Michigan difference.

We have an exciting year planned and hope to see you at our events, leaving room for the flexibility and ever-changing tide of healthcare. Who'd have ever thought it could be so complicated?

Go Blue!

Marianthi