Applications are now being accepted for Summer 2025. To apply please see the Internship Application.
Deadline: February 10, 2025
The goal of the Congressman Pete Stark Health Policy Internship is to offer graduate students a hands-on experience in developing, advocating, and implementing in Congress and/or Executive Branch agencies legislation, regulations, and policy initiatives to improve America’s health.
Mr. Stark served as the Chair or Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health for 28 years, helping enact (often on a bipartisan basis) major improvements in health insurance, Medicare, consumer health protections, cost savings, and anti-fraud measures. It was his hope that the scholar-applicant for this internship would share his interests in using legislative, oversight, and administrative tools to improve health coverage and quality in an efficient, cost-effective manner.
Remembering Congressman Pete Stark (1931 – 2020)
Support the Congressman Pete Stark Health Policy Internship
Who Should Apply
The Pete Stark internship is for graduate students interested in developing, advocating, and implementing in Congress and/or Executive Branch agencies legislation, regulations, and policy initiatives to improve health coverage and quality in the U.S. in an efficient, cost-effective manner. Students from all disciplines (political science, business, communications, public policy, social policy, health policy etc.) are encouraged to apply to this 12-week summer semester internship in Washington, DC.* Projects will emphasize policy research and design, and/or related activities around current health care issues facing the federal government.
Eligibility of all internship programs requires applicants to be currently enrolled in a college or university at the start of the internship cycle.
This internship is open only to applicants with a valid U.S. Social Security Number (SSN); we cannot accommodate students on international visas (including J- or F- Visa holders).
*As of summer 2022, Academy interns are offered hybrid or in-person work arrangements, which are subject to change depending on COVID-19. In-person attendance is required for local DC Academy internship programming and activities.
Compensation
Interns are paid $17.50/hr based on a 35 to 40-hour work week (according to Washington DC’s minimum wage).
Internship Placements
Students selected for an internship will be matched with a placement organization in the DC area, where they will work under the supervision of an Academy Member. Pete Stark interns will be afforded the opportunity to:
- Work with leading experts on the legislative process, health insurance coverage expansion, Medicare and Medicaid, evidence-based medicine coverage, anti-fraud and abuse laws, and other current health issues facing the federal government;
- Gain valuable work experience;
- Make professional contacts and network in their area of interest;
- Attend Congressional, Executive Branch, and private sector forums on current topics.
Our most recent internship placements have included:
- AcademyHealth
- ADvancing States (former National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities)
- AFL-CIO
- Buffin Foundation
- Center for Global Policy Solutions
- Century Foundation
- Community Catalyst
- Congressional Research Service
- Kaiser Family Foundation
- Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA)
- Medicaid and Chip Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC)
- National Academy of Social Insurance
- National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM)
- National Institute for Retirement Security
- SCAN Health Plan
- Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB)
- U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means
- U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)
- Urban Institute
Academic credit may be arranged through the intern’s college or university.
The Academy will strive to place interns according to a best-fit criteria considering their career goals and preferences, but the Academy has the final decision on all placement sites.
The National Academy of Social Insurance, as a nonpartisan organization devoted to furthering knowledge and understanding of social insurance programs, is uniquely qualified to provide students with challenging internship opportunities. Academy members, recognized experts in social insurance and health policy, offer the interns access to information and experiences found nowhere else. Academic credit may be arranged through the intern’s college or university. International students with valid student visas can be placed with non-governmental organizations, if placement projects match their skills and interests.