From the Classroom to the Statehouse

Drawing on his expertise in health law and his experience as a state legislator, Dr. David Orentlicher taught a course on health law advocacy and drafting this past semester. Students learned about the legislative process and how to advocate for legislative change. For their class projects, the students paired with Nevada state legislators to draft bills for the 2021 session. 

The students worked in groups of three, and the four groups prepared bills on the following topics: (1) Improving access to prenatal care by expanding the state’s policy on presumptive eligibility for Medicaid coverage during pregnancy, (2) Lowering prescription drug costs by granting authority for the state to negotiate drug prices for the Medicaid program, (3) Lowering health care costs by requiring insurers, hospitals, and physicians to provide patients with information about the costs of care so patients can compare prices when choosing their health care providers, and (4) Better protecting victims of sexual assault by revising the state’s law prohibiting sexual assault.

The students will be able to follow their bills through the legislative process next year, and so will Dr. O. He recently was chosen as the Democratic nominee for his district in the Nevada Assembly, and he faces no opposition in November.