August 03, 2018

It is difficult to say where the idea starts – whether it’s the result of a lifelong commitment to a cause, or a curiosity that simply would not go away – but every published piece starts with an idea. At the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, those ideas take on a life of their own, as Madeline Toups MPP’18, Aamir Hussain MD/MAPP’19, and Arturo Rocha MPP’18 discovered. 

Their ideas sparked research, introspection, and insights that made it into the leading sources of information and knowledge in the United States and beyond. From the top journals in their field to the op-ed pages of one of our top national newspapers, Harris Public Policy students are making an impact. 

Madeline Toups MPP’18

“National Analysis of State Health Policies on Students’ Rights to Self-Carry and Self-Administer Asthma Inhalers at School”

Published in: Journal of School Health (pending, accepted after revisions) 

Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children in the United States, with more than six million people diagnosed with the condition. Effective self-management, such as carrying and using an inhaler, is critical to decreasing adverse outcomes and empowering children to recognize and respond to symptoms. 

Toups’s research identified and analyzed broader themes of students’ “self-carry” at school: Which legislative agency developed the school policy? What types of school systems are regulated? Who are the relevant stakeholders? What are the medical record requirements? And, not to be forgotten, what is a school’s liability if something goes wrong? 

The outcomes show a patchwork of legislation across the country where students can be empowered to self-carry an inhaler in one school district and denied in another, even in the same state. 

Toups’s paper recommends that states create consistent, comprehensive policies; streamline the documentation approval process; and create an efficient process with one final approver, rather than multiple stakeholders giving conflicting approvals. With these policies in place, streamlined and consistent state laws will promote best practices for inhaler self-carry and use at school – and improve the student’s experience.

 

Aamir Hussain, MD/MAPP’19

“Considering the Single-Payer System”

Published in: The Dermatologist

Paging Bernie Sanders: Hussain’s article in The Dermatologist examines the implications of a single-payer healthcare system on the practice of dermatologists, comparing the model of single-payer used in Canada to those of other nations. 

The research found many positive aspects of a single-payer model, including decreased administrative burden on doctors, predictable reimbursements, and likely expansion of care for the underserved. However, Hussain also found that this model may support job losses from decreased administrative needs, decreases in reimbursements for cosmetic services, and the possibility of moral hazard, the concept that individuals may make riskier decisions when the negative outcome seems less costly. Notably, and contrary to popular belief, the impact on physician salaries is uncertain – aside from the large tax increases needed to finance legislation. 

While the single-payer model has become a popular talking point among Democratic politicians, voters – doctors included – are generally uninformed about the true implications of such a major healthcare system change. Hussain believes it’s time to change that.

 

Arturo Rocha MPP’18

“Mexico’s young voters are shaping the presidential campaign”

Published in: Washington Post

Rocha’s op-ed in The Washington Post discusses the youth vote in Mexico — and how that generation is poised to leave behind the authoritarian and still incumbent ruling party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). The recent election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (frequently called “ALMO”) to Mexico’s highest office will undoubtedly change the political landscape for young and old alike.

Rocha shows how millennials, through the #YoSoy132 movement, rejected the old way of politics yet has, until recently, failed to channel that disdain for current practices into a coherent political force. After generations of nepotism and corruption, the youth has focused less on agreeing on public solutions than on what type of players – people like AMLO or runner-up Ricardo Anaya – should have a role in government.