This is a policy memo assignment:
With the possibilities of national action very limited, progressive states like NY, CT and CA are considering health system change in their states. You are a staff person in the NYS Governor’s office.
You have been asked to draft a memo to Paul Francis, Governor Cuomo’s Secretary for Health. Your memo will discuss the various underlying reasons for reform – cost, quality, equity and so on. You will recommend a specific health system change you believe needs to be acted upon as soon as possible. This is the first memo on the topic you are sending Mr. Francis.
Your memo should introduce him to the issues and lay out the needs and opportunities for state action. Mr. Francis is quite knowledgeable about the politics of health care in NY, but less well versed in the how the health system works. Policy memo should follow the following format: Organizing an effective policy memo
1) Introduction
One distinguishing characteristic of a policy memo is that a summary of the document’s conclusion(s) and recommendation(s) is placed right at the beginning of the memo. Remember that the purpose of the document is generally to provide your audience advice about a decision, project, or policy stance. Thus, you open the memo by summarizing the problem or situation about which you are writing, and by providing a very short summary of the conclusions/recommendations you have reached during your analysis. The rest of the memo is designed to support the conclusions or recommendations you present.
2) Background
Follow your introduction with a concise summary of any historical or technical that your audience needs to understand the arguments you are building. (It may be that no background information is needed at all.) Supporting arguments or analysis Once you have set the stage for your audience, show how this information leads logically to the conclusions/recommendations you have provided.
3) Style and Format
Your ideas will be no more meaningful to the reader of your memo than you are able to make them. Meaning is not just embellished by style; rather, the two must function together. Muddled writing reflects hazy thinking. Your prose should be simple, clear, and easy to read; you will confuse, not impress, your readers with sophisticated vocabulary. Your reader should be able to describe your conclusions and the general arguments you used to reach them after only one reading of your memo.
