Cases

Achieving Mental Health Parity

Publication Date: July 28, 2011

In October 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law a requirement that certain private health insurance plans provide coverage for mental illness equal to coverage provided for medical-surgical illness as part of an economic stimulus...

To Build a Different Model: The Case for Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc.

Publication Date: July 26, 2011

This case study examines the business model of the Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc., (POAH) and its applicability to nonprofit housing providers. POAH is one of the premier socially conscious low-income housing developers and owners in...

The California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32)

Publication Date: June 15, 2011

In November of 2010, the California voters had to decide whether to support a ballot proposition that would effectively end the state's pioneering effort to reduce global warming. In 2006, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 32,...

Moving People out of Danger: Special Needs Evacuations from Gulf Coast Hurricanes (A)

Publication Date: May 19, 2011

In late summer 2005, Hurricane Katrina--the worst natural disaster in U.S. history--wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast, causing massive loss of life and property damage. (Just a few weeks later, Hurricane Rita would inflict even more suffering...

TransMilenio: The Battle Over Avenida Séptima

Publication Date: May 10, 2011

In August of 2007, the mayor of Bogotá, Luis Eduardo Garzón, had to decide whether to proceed with plans to build a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in Avenida Séptima, one of the most important transportation corridors in the...

A Tampa "Town Hall" Forum Goes Awry: Anatomy of a Public Meeting Fiasco

Publication Date: May 10, 2011

This case describes a health care town hall meeting that was derailed by vocal protesters. The case was designed for a very specific teaching purpose: to discuss a variety of alternatives to the tried and true town hall meeting format which, the...

Tennessee Responds to the 2009 Novel H1N1 Influenza A Pandemic

Publication Date: May 03, 2011

The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic posed enormous challenges for state health departments across the U.S. This case focuses on the experience of Tennessee--which endured an intense resurgence of the disease in late summer and early fall 2009--and...

On the Frontlines of a Pandemic: Texas Responds to 2009 Novel H1N1 Influenza (A)

Publication Date: April 28, 2011

In the spring of 2009, cases of a previously unidentified strain of influenza began appearing in Mexico and the southwestern U.S. Within just a few months, outbreaks of 2009 Novel H1N1 (commonly referred to as Swine Flu) were so widespread that...

Knowledge Management at the World Bank

Publication Date: April 05, 2011

This case traces the history and evolution of Knowledge Management at the World Bank. While primarily a financial institution offering customized loans and grants across a wide range of sectors in some 100 countries, the World Bank has...

Inciting a Computer Revolution in Health Care: Weighing the Merits of the Health Information Technology Act

Publication Date: April 04, 2011

This case poses the question: given what was known at the time of its adoption, in February 2009, was the federal Health information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act good public policy? The HITECH Act, included in President Barack...

Inciting a Computer Revolution in Health Care: Implementing the Health Information Technology Act

Publication Date: April 04, 2011

This case poses the question: given the ambitious goals of the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the hurdles to its successful implementation, how should incoming National Coordinator for Health...

What Makes a Policy Intervention Successful? Glimpses of experience in Brazil's Fundescola education reform (Epilogue)

Publication Date: December 16, 2010

Fundescola is an educational reform introduced in Brazil in the first decade of the 21st century. It was introduced after Brazil's successful educational access reforms in the 1990s led to skyrocketing enrollment rates, leaving schools...