In News Releases

For Immediate Release
March 31, 2017
Contact:
Alex Rossman
arossman@mlpp.org
517-487-5436
$600,000 grant funded two new health policy analyst positions, helps League improve integration of state health and human services
LANSING—A $600,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation awarded to the Michigan League for Public Policy will help transform the League’s health policy work in Detroit and around the state. The funding enabled the League to hire two new health policy analysts, one focusing on Medicaid and the other specializing in the social determinants of health.
“These policy analysts provide valuable expertise regarding additional opportunities to integrate health and human services policies that will lead to great health and well-being for Michiganders,” said David Fukuzawa, managing director for The Kresge Foundation’s health and human services programs. “The League will serve as a valuable resource for Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services as the department continues to develop integrated services for the state.”
The funding from The Kresge Foundation will support the League’s research and analysis examining the current health and well-being of Detroiters and Michigan residents. The League will identify gaps in state services and support systems and create specific policy recommendations to address those gaps. This work by the League’s two new health policy analysts will advance public policy change by supporting the integration of health and human services and helping lawmakers, state department officials and service providers better understand the connection between health and other factors.
“The Kresge Foundation has been a longstanding supporter of our work at the League, but this significant grant will help take our health policy efforts to the next level,” said Gilda Z. Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy. “We work on a variety of issues to improve the physical and economic well-being of kids and families in Detroit and around the state, and we are seeing more and more how all of these issues connect. A child’s health is directly impacted by their environment, nutrition and family’s income, and their health affects their education and future occupations and earnings. We need comprehensive strategies to tackle all of these issues, and this grant will enable us to do that.”
The League’s health policy analysts will research and write reports, analyze current and proposed policy, and work with partners, department staff and policymakers on social determinants of health and Medicaid-related issues. Emily Schwarzkopf, the League’s health policy analyst working on Medicaid, has hit the ground running as the League and our partners work to protect the Affordable Care Act and the state’s Medicaid expansion program, the Healthy Michigan Plan. Health Policy Analyst Julie Cassidy will be working on the social determinants of health, a relatively new focus of health policy work that takes a holistic approach and incorporates other needs and services.
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.6 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development in Detroit.

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The Michigan League for Public Policy, www.mlpp.org, is a nonprofit policy institute focused on economic opportunity for all. It is the only state-level organization that addresses poverty in a comprehensive way.

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