Graduate School
Harvard School of Public Health

Undergraduate School
Brown University

Mentor
Amy Dain, Dain Research, Former Rappaport Policy Fellow and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member

Agency
Office of Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez

Supervisor
Rep. Jeff Sanchez

Description of Fellowship
Rachel spent her fellowship in the office of State Representative Jeffrey Sanchez, who began the summer as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and ended it as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. At the State House, Rachel worked on a series of issue briefs detailing how pending federal health care reform would impact Massachusetts, focusing on reproductive health and health equity. These briefs answered questions such as “which populations would lose contraceptive coverage?” and “how would the proposed Medicaid cuts exacerbate racial health inequities?” Because the ACA-repeal debate was so dynamic, Rachel updated these briefs throughout the summer to reflect current Congressional proposals. She also worked on a number of smaller projects to help provide the Chairman with the most accurate and up to date health policy information. These included writing summaries of reports from the State Auditor’s Office and the Health Connector and synthesizing testimony from hearings on Governor Bakers’ budget proposals. This work will inform future legislative efforts to improve health care quality and reduce spending growth in the Commonwealth.