HPSA Podcast- Amber Bellazaire

Amber Bellazer, a policy analyst for the Michigan League for Public Policy, discusses her interest in public health and policy analysis. She explains her role as a policy analyst, which includes meetings with partner organizations, researching and responding to questions, and giving presentations. She expresses her passion for food justice and improving maternal and child health. Amber also provides information about the Michigan League for Public Policy and their current policy issues, such as increasing the state's earned income tax credit, improving the child care system, and addressing housing instability. She discusses the impact of the recent midterm election on their work and emphasizes the importance of connecting personal stories to policy data. Finally, Amber shares her love for the work she does and the people she works with at the Michigan League for Public Policy. Welcome back and thank you for joining us for today's edition of Health Policy Checkup. My name is Jamie Tibbetts and I will be your host for today's episode. I'm a first-year Master of Social Work student at the University of Michigan and a member of the HPSA Education Committee. Today, we're going to dive into the intersection of policy and advocacy and learn more about the role of a policy analyst. I'm very excited to welcome our guest today, Amber Bellazer. She's an alumni of U of M's Master of Public Health program and current policy analyst for the Michigan League for Public Policy, also known as MLPP or the League. Amber, thank you so much for being here today. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely. I thought we could start off, if you wouldn't mind just telling us a little bit about what led to your interest in public health and policy analysis. Absolutely. So, I was initially interested in attending medical school, but I soon learned that I was actually more interested in understanding the broader systems that support or hinder people's health and the psychology behind why people behave in particular ways. And essentially, those curiosities led me to public health. Plus, I just thought the hours might be a little better. And I found myself pursuing health policy after finishing my MPH at U of M because I wanted to contribute to work that was focused on the macro level. So, prior to graduate school, I had gained some experience in direct service through AmeriCorps. And it was so rewarding to help a family enroll their kids in health insurance, for example. But I also knew I wanted to do work that would affect policies that could potentially positively impact hundreds or even thousands of families at once. So, I feel really fortunate to have found job opportunities in the policy space. Yeah, that's awesome. I am also an AmeriCorps alum, so I appreciate that. Yeah, great. I did two years of it. I really think highly of the program and that experience for folks. That's awesome. All right. And then, would you mind telling us a little bit, like, what a typical day in your role looks like as a policy analyst? Yeah. So, I'm a health policy analyst for a small state-level nonprofit. And my days typically include a few meetings with partner organizations to discuss coalition priorities or shared advocacy goals, researching and responding to questions that I might receive, which tend to be focused on Medicaid, healthcare-related state budget items, or information about women's health issues. So, for example, I recently gave a presentation and was talking about some of the recent healthcare budget items that were included in fiscal year 23 budget for Michigan. And there was an appropriation for uterine fibroid education, and I had received a question about why we see such stark racial disparities in prevalence of uterine fibroids. And I didn't really know the cause of those disparities, and that was the primary question. So, I spent some time just yesterday morning kind of researching various papers about that topic so that I could follow up with that person's question. So, things like that. Sometimes I give presentations, as I mentioned, have conversations with the media, but mostly I spend my days reading and writing, and I like that quite a bit. Okay. Very cool. And then, are there any particular areas of policy or public health that you're especially passionate about? I've always been passionate about food justice and people's ability to grow, buy, prepare, and eat nutrient-dense foods. That was really, I think, another component that led me to public health was my interest in food justice. I'm also really passionate about ways we can continue to improve maternal and child health. So, there are really so many topics in the health space that I'm interested in learning more about. It's hard to just choose a few, but I think those are the first two that come to mind. Yeah. I heard the announcement, I don't know if it was made yesterday, but about the doula services, the expansion. That was really exciting to hear about. Yes. Very exciting. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to write a paper focused on maternal and child health, and that was definitely a component that was included in the paper as a policy recommendation to continue to pursue how we might expand access to doula services, and certainly not drawing a causal link between that paper and this outcome, but it's always really exciting to see something that you've been supporting and interested in ultimately come to fruition. Yeah. Absolutely. And you mentioned you work for a small non-profit. Do you want to talk a little bit about the League and give us a little background? Yeah. Sounds great. So, the Michigan League for Public Policy has been around for more than 100 years. The League is a non-partisan state-level policy organization really dedicated to economic opportunity and well-being for all people in Michigan. We analyze the impact of state and federal budgets and policies on people with low incomes living in Michigan. Essentially, we kind of follow the numbers to see what Michigan can do better for kids, adults, and families. Okay. And then some current policy issues you and your colleagues at the League are currently working on. Ooh. A lot. A whole bunch, really. Absolutely. I will most certainly leave out a lot of what we do, but the first few topics that come to mind are increasing the state's earned income tax credit, improving the state's child care system, and supporting policy, funding, and program decisions that would meaningfully address the issue of housing instability that we know really affects too many people living in Michigan. Yeah. So, some very big issues, not a small task. Yes. Yeah. And then, kind of, I think, you know, I mentioned a lot of areas that sit outside my portfolio at the League, but are very much, you know, kind of under that umbrella of social determinants of health. So, all of these things we know ultimately increase financial stability and overall well-being for people. You know, if you don't have steady child care, then it's harder to find employment because you're really kind of concerned about who's going to be watching your child, for example, when you need to be away. If you are not stably housed, that really makes it hard to go to the doctor regularly, you know, access your medications regularly, just kind of live your day-to-day life because that's such a basic need and kind of makes all of the other things much harder to maintain. So, yeah, it's just great to be a part of an organization that really is addressing low-income poverty in a comprehensive way. Right. And then, as you are aware, I'm sure, we recently had a big midterm election. Do you foresee the results of that election, like, changing your work, and if so, how? So, I won't guess how the latest midterm election will affect policy windows in our state, but I will say that I'm very hopeful. I think so many of the policies and legislative proposals that the League supports also have bipartisan support. And I think, you know, moving forward, my plan is really just to keep doing what I've been doing, which is showing up, learning, sharing data, and when possible, you know, really reminding decision-makers about the personal side of policy because that's really what it's all about, right, like improving individual circumstances. So, I think I really see my role or the League as a whole is really trying to address both, like, the head and the heart, you know, so addressing policy by providing data and research and evidence, but also reminding those who are in positions to make changes that these kinds of changes really do affect individual people and families and connecting those sort of personal stories. Yeah. Do you have an example of how you're able to connect kind of those personal stories to the data, if you're able to share? I'm putting you on the spot a little bit. Yeah. So, I think, you know, what comes to mind first is that the League often hosts what we call advocacy boot camps, and that's a place for community members, partner organizations, really organizations that are direct service, kind of community-based, community-driven, to increase their advocacy capacity. So, kind of how do they do the work that they're so interested in doing and do it well? How do they write testimony for the state legislature? How would they interact with the media in an effective way? Things like that. So, we feel like that's hopefully providing a really useful service and, again, building capacity and power for our partners, but it's also an opportunity for us to really listen and hear kind of the very specific experiences that community members are living every day. So, I often lead healthcare kind of breakout sessions and can hear very specifically how just having Medicaid coverage isn't necessarily enough and the experience of sort of turning on and off when income fluctuates or when they are switched onto a new health plan and then need to find a new doctor's office for their child or aren't able to access dental services for themselves but can access dental services for their child. So, I think just kind of really understanding what the logistics of some of the broader policy topics that we might be interacting with all the time, how that really shows up in everyday lives. Absolutely. And I feel like you've spoken with a lot of passion about many of these topics so far, but if you could pick one thing that you love most about the work that you do at the Michigan League for Public Policy, what would you say that is? I think besides how much I'm able to learn just through all of the reading and writing, that's a component of my job, what I enjoy most about the work is just the people that I get to do it with. Each of my co-workers is really kind-hearted and as committed to being effective in their role at the League as they are to just being a genuinely good person. And I think the other piece that I'll mention that I'm really proud of that is a part of the League is our community engagement work. So, not only do we examine research and data, but we really do try to build relationships with and listen to community-based partners from all across the state. So, then we can kind of use all of that information to guide how we approach advocating for policy and budgetary changes. Our community engagement team, which as I mentioned, hosts advocacy boot camps and listening sessions and participates in numerous local coalitions, is really an integral part of the League. So, I think those are just a few things that I really love about the work. When you mention local coalitions, that sounds like a really great way to kind of partner with communities and people from different levels on certain subjects. Is there a specific coalition that you are directly involved with in your work? Yeah, I would say a lot of analysts sit on a lot of different coalitions. So, just a few that I'm a part of, they're kind of big buckets and then there's a number of different stakeholders that are part of them. So, I sit on a home visiting advisory council, a maternal and infant health legislative and policy action committee that has a number of different maternal and child health related partners, a family planning advisory council, a coalition that's really focused on promoting the value of Medicaid expansion in our state. So, for a period of time, and this was a few years ago, that was really focused on opposing Medicaid work requirements and thankfully that threat has been minimized and is no longer active. So, most recently, that coalition just sort of joined forces to talk about how we could submit robust public comments as the state goes through its renewal process. So, every few years, the state has to renew its kind of like the Medicaid expansion program. So, just wanting to kind of coordinate as a group of how we wanted to really express the value that we saw Medicaid expansion serving our state. So, those are just a handful, but really, yeah, just a number of different opportunities to work with partners and some folks at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and really just a number of organizations across the state to talk about kind of what are our priorities and where do we have alignment. And then this next question, if you had any advice that you could give someone who's interested in pursuing a career in policy analysis, what would you suggest for them? So, I think I would say practice becoming the best writer you can be. Finding the ways that your writing might be improved, likely through having to solicit direct feedback from folks reading your work, is, I would just say work on that. Each policy analyst or research associate job that I've held required a writing sample during the interview process. And I think having the ability to formulate a coherent and digestible response when presented with sometimes an unfamiliar topic is really the golden ticket. I think I'd also say that staying curious or being a curious person is really helpful. Having an earnest desire to learn and understand or find answers to complex questions I think also really helps when doing this kind of work. Right. And then we're on to our last question here. This is just open to your own interpretation. So, if you could finish this sentence for me, in your own words, the world would be a better place if more people knew about blank. The principles of basic economics. Oh, okay. That might sound a little nerdy or not where most people take this question, I'm not sure. But I think for me, I didn't start to learn about economics until even after I had finished graduate school, which I still find surprising. But thankfully, learning doesn't have to end when we finish school. So yeah, since then, I've really come across so many incredible thinkers and writers in the field of economics. And I just really value all of that perspective that I've gained. I really think that if more people understood economics, we'd all be a little bit better off. It's a field of study that has really helped me think in new ways about things like incentives or trade-offs. One of my favorite quotes by an economist is by a man named Tom Sowell. And he's a really prolific writer and an economist. He's now in his 90s. But he said, there are no solutions, there are only trade-offs. And I really just love that. And I often think of it, especially in the context of my work. So I would just say for anyone else who thinks this sounds kind of interesting, I would highly recommend digging into kind of just, yeah, some basic economics, Tom Sowell, Walter Williams, Emily Oster, Len Lowry, Brian Kaplan. There's so many really great folks that I've come into contact with just in the first recent years. So yeah, that's something that I really enjoy. Awesome. It leaves me something to think about. So I appreciate that answer. And there are many, many health economists. So that's like a very niche part of kind of, I think, public health or health policy work. So for folks who are still really interested in kind of the health space, there is a way to kind of still explore economics, but within like health care and things like that. Okay. Amber, do you have a way that people can stay connected to the MLPP if they're interested in getting involved? Yeah, we are on all of the major social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. And you can find us at our website, MLPP.org. Thank you so much for this conversation today. We really appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you again for having me.