Peter Kemper, professor of health policy and administration, has been appointed a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He will lead the Office of Disability, Aging, and Long Term Care Policy, one of four units within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. To assume the full-time position, Kemper retired from Penn State at the end of August. (more)
Modifications to current policies could help ensure that health insurance coverage and subsidies provided under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act remain stable even through major life changes, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report released on May 19. At least 34 million people will gain new coverage under the law. The report's authors say that it will be important to ensure that life changes, such as fluctuations in income and job transitions, don't cause abrupt changes in people's health insurance coverage or financial responsibilities for their premiums or care. (more)
Sara Y. Kizer, a senior health policy and administration major from Clarks Summit, Pa., and Toan V. Ngo, a senior information science and technology major at Penn State Harrisburg, have been named recipients of the 2011 Ralph Dorn Hetzel Memorial Award. Named for Penn State's 10th president, the Hetzel Award recognizes a combination of high scholastic attainment together with good citizenship and participation and leadership in student activities. (more)
Caitlin Grim, a senior Penn State Health Policy and Administration student, has been honored as a 2010 recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Early Career Healthcare Executive Regent's Award. (more)
The health care reform legislation passed in March is expected to expand insurance to cover 30 million more people, which will open up job opportunities in the field of health care administration. Undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the Department of Health Policy and Administration (HPA) at Penn State are designed to prepare students for these future leadership roles, and the department is finding ways to adapt its curriculum to address the forthcoming changes. (more)
Three Penn State students in the Master of Health Administration program (M.H.A.), received third place in the annual Health Administration Case Competition hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on Feb. 11, 2010. In the competition, 24 teams of health administration students from universities across the country were challenged with developing solutions to the same real-world dilemma. This year, the competition centered on hospital and physician alignment. (more)
Penn State researchers Paul Morgan and Marianne Hillemeier, and George Farkas from the University of California, Irvine, are seeking a better understanding of the early risk factors for cognitive delays to give early childhood researchers and practitioners important information about a child's cognitive development before entering kindergarten. (more)
Sharita R. Thomas, a health policy and administration student, is taking part in the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars program this summer in Washington, D.C. Established by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation in partnership with Howard University, the scholars program places college seniors and recent graduates in congressional offices where they focus their work on health policies issues affecting racial and ethnic minorities and under served communities. (more)
