What A Difference A Week Makes

The National Policy Health Conference went really well and I am really glad that I was able to go. My background is more in the social determinants of health and national level health policy. It was nice to have the opportunity to go to a conference that focused on the politics and service side of the health care debate. I am really pleased with all of the sessions that I attended and thought it was really cool to hear first hand from some of the people that will be playing a huge role in health care reform, including Jeanne Lambrew and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). It was also nice getting to know a variety of people from a broad swath of areas within health and health care. People from nearly ever state and many universities were in attendance and it led to interesting and diverse discussion. There was also an energy and optimism in the crowd. Many of these people will be guiding and influencing the reform debate and they seemed excited about the opportunity for change.

It was particularly neat to have a chance to hear Max Baucus in-person; as growing up in Montana, he was one of my Senators since birth. He seemed hopeful and optimistic about the likelihood of reform and predicted that much would be done this year on it. He noted that due to the lame duck last year of President Bush, there was a lot of opportunity to lay the foundation for reforms this year by holding hearings on key health issues.

One particularly funny session had Congressional staffers from both the House and Senate and from both the Democrat and Republican party. Their banter was fun to watch and they did a good job indentifying many of the key concerns that both parties have as reform goes forward. However, their demeanor clearly indicated that the call for bipartisanship doesn't pervade all levels. Many of the assertions from staffers from both parties echoed more party taking points than an actual engagement with policy issues.

One thing that is much different about GAO than any other places I have worked is how quickly time moves. These two months have gone extremely fast and the pace continues to quicken, this past week was over before I realized it. I am still really loving my career and have yet to find anything to complain about. I am also really excited to be a part of the analyst's union at GAO, I have always been intrigued by unions and their positive effects on both unionized as well as non-unionized workers in any given field. I look forward to playing a substantial role as I continue in GAO.