KaiserEDU.org Essay Contest

KaiserEDU.org invites undergraduate and graduate-level students in all disciplines to submit an original essay for the website's annual competition. Students are asked to submit entries by March 17, 2008 in response to the following topic:

Topic:

The date is November 24th, 2008. You have just started a job as an analyst working on the President-elect's health care transition team. The director of the transition team has asked you to draft a memo to flesh out the health priorities for the new Administration on a major health policy issue. Select an issue area and a candidate (from the list below) and identify the major policies or strategies that the Administration could develop to advance this issue. Make sure to include evidence and analysis to support your recommendations. Your priorities and strategies should be consistent with the proposals forwarded by the candidates in the campaign. You should also address the challenges in implementing your recommendations, such as budgetary and political considerations, delivery system issues, and how different stakeholders and constituencies would perceive the proposals. Your memo should not exceed 800 words.

Issue Areas:

* Controlling Healthcare Costs
* Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
* Expanding Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Efforts
* Improving Women's Health
* Improving the Quality of Health Care

Presidential Candidates (as of 1/22/2008):

Democrats
- Hillary Clinton
- John Edwards
- Mike Gravel
- Dennis Kucinich
- Barack Obama


Republicans
- Rudy Giuliani
- Mike Huckabee
- Alan Keyes
- John McCain
- Ron Paul
- Mitt Romney