Hope Street Group

Policy 2.0 (beta) Launches

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:33:39 GMT

Today Hope Street Group launched the beta version of its online platform, Policy 2.0, at HopeStreetGroup.org. This online platform brings new talent and tools to traditionally partisan debates by enabling reform-minded professionals, policymakers, and practitioners across the nation to collaborate on policy ideas and realize them in partnership with decision-makers.

We know this model works. Over the past three months, several dozen volunteer teachers and other professionals have collaborated through the Policy 2.0 site to design recommendations for a set of Essential Elements for Teacher Evaluation Systems and are presenting their recommendations at the National Press Club today.

We are looking for bright individuals interested in education and/or health reform to contribute to Policy 2.0. Help be part of the solution to improve these systems in your country, state, and local community by:

Sharing your unique experiences and perspective on these issues by contributing to online discussions and participating in polls
Helping us build a library of evidence by writing a blog post or starting a discussion.
Networking with likeminded professionals.

Senate Committee Shuffle

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:46:14 GMT

It looks as if Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn) will not be taking over the HELP committee. That leaves Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) next in line.

Here's the story from the Washington Post. Harkin will have to give up the chair of the Agriculture Committee to take the post.

Gothamschools previews Teacher Evaluation Systems policy project

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:16:55 GMT

Hope Street Group's summer policy project, developing the elements of a quality teacher evaluation system, is previewed at Gothamschools.org:

A novel nonprofit called Hope Street Group is behind the effort to involve educators in the debate. Created in 2003 as a volunteer-only experiment, Hope Street Group now has a full-time staff that works to build “coalitions of the reasonable” around domestic policy questions by gathering diverse groups of people to solve them together.

In a process officials at Hope Street Group call Policy 2.0, business executives and policy experts join with doctors or nurses or — in this case — teachers via small working groups, and then come up with a policy recommendation that everyone can agree on.

The team of 28 people who have signed up to write guidelines for a teacher evaluation system includes administrators, teachers, and policy experts, and they come from all around the country, Hope Street officials said. “This is a chance for an authentic and neutral voice,” said Catherine Cullen, a staffer who will work with the teacher-evaluation group.

Letter to the editor: NYT op-ed has it wrong on universal coverage

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:28:35 GMT

Hope Street Group's response to Ramesh Ponnuru's April 9 op-ed:

To the Editor:

Forget universal health care coverage? Then you can forget the American Dream, too.

Ramesh Ponnuru, in his April 9 op-ed ("The Misguided Quest for Universal Coverage"), is wrong to oppose the goal of universal access to health care coverage.
While Mr. Ponnuru takes on the "practical, moral and political" cases for universal coverage, he ignores the most compelling case of all – the economic case. Hope Street Group, the non-partisan policy organization that I lead, has developed an Economic Opportunity Index (EOI) to show that the economic future of our people and our country depends on all of our citizens having access to health care coverage. The EOI demonstrates that health accounts for almost 25% of the total variation in economic opportunity.

The author seems to imply that the only debate is about providing universal health care, unnecessarily raising costs. The fact is that controlling costs and improving quality are just as important, and are an integral part of all serious health reform discussions taking place in DC.

To deny universal coverage -- and to ignore this opportunity to drastically remake the system -- is to deny millions of Americans the opportunity to lead healthy, productive lives and diminishes our country’s chance to regain its global competitiveness and widespread prosperity.

Monique Nadeau
Executive Director
Hope Street Group

Will health care reform debate reshape the lobbying landscape?

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:17:45 GMT

"The AMA is not as powerful as it was in the mid 20th Century," when it was arguably the organization most responsible for blocking efforts at national health insurance," writes Jonathan Cohn in The New Republic "Nor does the medical community speak with the same unified, conservative voice it once did. Different types of physicians hold different views and speak through different organizations. Primary care physicians in partiuclar--organized through groups like American Academy of Family Phyisicians and the American Pediatrics Association--are generally more liberal and may well speak out in favor of the public plan, if they haven't already."

If health care legislation is approved, it will be an interesting indicator of which group(s) are the new 800 lb. gorillas in DC...

Politico's top five lesser known health care players

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:52:25 GMT

Excerpt:

Doug Elmendorf is now director of the Congressional Budget Office, where he’s charged with pricing the various reform proposals. Nothing moves without being “scored” by his office, and an unfavorable assessment of a program’s cost can be tantamount to defeat.

He’s one of five people you may have never heard of who could affect the course of health care reform.

San Fran Mayor to Lead US Mayors Task Force on Health Care Reform

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:49:16 GMT

“As Mayor of San Francisco, the first city to offer universal access for the uninsured, I know that America’s cities can provide compassionate and innovative health care to their residents,” said Mayor Newsom. San Francisco is attempting to offer universal health care through its controversial Healthy San Francisco program, which has won plaudits from some health reform advocates while antagonizing many small businesses in San Francisco.

Wireless tech potential in health care being promoted by tech providers

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:12:25 GMT

By Matt Hamblen

Mon, May 04, 2009 — Computerworld —

After years of talk about wireless technologies' potential for widespread use in medical applications, they appear to be ready for a takeoff in adoption within health care organizations.

And some doctors and IT professionals think that wireless has the potential to transform health care in the U.S. by improving patient care and lowering costs.

It remains to be seen whether that will prove to be a sound prediction or yet another case of cockeyed optimism about new technologies. But wireless proponents such as Dr. Eric Topol are in a bullish mood.

Hope Street Group participates in new publication on smart spending of ARRA money

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:30:09 GMT

Hope Street Group was proud to be one of 40 participants in a Washington, DC summit held in early April to discuss wise investments of money for education reform, driven by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The outcome of the summit is a publication, released today by the Coalition for Student Achievement and posted on their website.

This publication outlines several strategies for spending ARRA funds to improve schools through real reform. Although not an exhaustive or exclusive list, the recommendations offer a valuable starting point for states and districts committed to implementing the reform assurances of the law. They offer examples of the kinds of activities we hope the Race to the Top and Invest in What Works and Innovation Funds will promote.

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Mobility of Americans

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:59:05 GMT

New evidence that the housing slump is hamstringing the ability of Americans to move to pursue better opportunities. Read the article here.

Bob Laszewski on Progress in Health Care Reform Funding

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:54:23 GMT

"It is clear to me that there is real movement in the Senate on the issue of taxation of health benefits. I can see key Senators on both sides of the aisle agreeing to it as a means to help pay for reform. Likely, it would take the form of taxing everyone’s benefits above a certain threshold or taxing all health benefits for higher income people.

Read the whole post here.

Mayo Clinic National Symposium on Medical and Health Care Education Reform, April 27-28

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:21:20 GMT

WHAT:National Symposium on Medical and Health Care Education Reform Mayo Clinic Department of Education and Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center (HPC) are convening nationally-known leaders in medical and health care education to develop recommendations that will transform education to best facilitate health care reform.

Results of the MD Connector Student Competition, cosponsored by the HPC, will be announced at noon on Tuesday, April 28. Three groups of students are finalists in the competition that sought student input to medical and health care education reform.

WHERE:Phillips Hall, Siebens Building, Mayo Clinic Rochester and globally via Web cast with Twitter discussion and updates.

WHEN:Monday, April 27 and Tuesday, April 28, beginning at 8 a.m. CT each day

WHO:The symposium is hosted by Terrence Cascino, M.D., Executive Dean for Education at Mayo Clinic and Pat Mitchell, President and CEO, The Paley Center for Media. See a complete list of speakers and panelis

New Video from 2009 Colloquium

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:19:30 GMT

Check out this new video, screened for the first time at the 2009 Opportunity Economics Colloquium, April 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

Coalition for Student Achievement Joined By Hope Street Group

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:46:18 GMT

Hope Street Group Joins New Coalition to Track, Support ARRA-Funded Education Reform Efforts

Washington DC – April 16, 2009 – The bipartisan public policy organization Hope Street Group announced today it was joining the newly-formed Coalition for Student Achievement in its efforts to track and support education reforms called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Coalition’s first action appears in the form of a letter sent today (.pdf) to Education Secretary Arne Duncan urging his department to provide "stronger, clearer direction to states and local education leaders about how to meet the assurances and demonstrate measurable outcomes."

"We must take advantage of this unique opportunity to change the landscape in public education by holding ourselves accountable for implementing reforms," said Jocelyn Pickford, Hope Street Group Education Director. "The ARRA funding is keeping education on the national radar screen, and groups like the Coalition are rising to the challenge of doing the difficult work to embed reform into funded initiatives."

Letter to the editor: NYT op-ed has it wrong on universal coverage

info@hopestreetgroup.org — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:56:07 GMT

Hope Street Group's Monique Nadeau submitted the following letter to the editor of the New York Times in response to an April 9 op-ed:

To the Editor:

    Forget universal health care coverage? Then you can forget the American Dream, too.

    Ramesh Ponnuru, in his April 9 op-ed ("The Misguided Quest for Universal Coverage"), is wrong to oppose the goal of universal access to health care coverage.

    While Mr. Ponnuru takes on the "practical, moral and political" cases for universal coverage, he ignores the most compelling case of all – the economic case. Hope Street Group, the non-partisan policy organization that I lead, has developed an Economic Opportunity Index (EOI) to show that the economic future of our people and our country depends on all of our citizens having access to health care coverage. The EOI demonstrates that health accounts for almost 25% of the total variation in economic opportunity.

    The author seems to imply that the only debate is about providing universal health care, unnecessarily raising costs. The fact is that controlling costs and improving quality are just as important, and are an integral part of all serious health reform discussions taking place in DC.

    To deny universal coverage -- and to ignore this opportunity to drastically remake the system -- is to deny millions of Americans the opportunity to lead healthy, productive lives and diminishes our country’s chance to regain its global competitiveness and widespread prosperity.

    Monique Nadeau
    Executive Director
    Hope Street Group