Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement
As a nurse, how often have you thought to yourself, If I had anything to do about it, things would work a little differently? Increasingly, nurses are beginning to realize that they do, in fact, have a role and a voice.
Many nurses encounter daily experiences that motivate them to take on an advocacy role in hopes of impacting policies, laws, or regulations that impact healthcare issues of interest. Of course, doing so means entering the less familiar world of policy and politics. While many nurses do not initially feel prepared to operate in this space effectively, the reward is the opportunity to shape and influence future health policy.
To Prepare:
Select a bill that has been proposed (not one that has been enacted) using the congressional websites provided in the Learning Resources.
The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Legislation Grid; 1-page Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement)
Be sure to add a title page, an introduction, purpose statement, and a conclusion. This is an APA paper.
Part 1: Legislation Grid
Based on the health-related bill (proposed, not enacted) you selected, complete the Legislation Grid Template. Be sure to address the following:
Determine the legislative intent of the bill you have reviewed.
Identify the proponents/opponents of the bill.
Identify the target populations addressed by the bill.
Where in the process is the bill currently? Is it in hearings or committees?
Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement
Based on the health-related bill you selected, develop a 1-page Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement that addresses the following:
Advocate a position for the bill you selected and write testimony in support of your position.
Describe how you would address the opponent to your position. Be specific and provide examples.
At least 2 outside resources and 2-3 course-specific resources are used.
BUY A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement
Tasked with the day to day operations in the healthcare organization especially taking care of patients, nurses face challenges which they often feel they can have an input in to better provide quality care on the one hand and to address issues that negatively impact them personally on the other hand. Antonisse, Garfield, Rudowitz and Artiga (2018) stated that nurses are today increasingly inclined and motivated to play advocacy roles whereby the participate in calling for policy changes, laws and regulations in healthcare. The purpose of this report is to discuss a health related law in terms of its objective, level, proponents and opponents and its target population. The particular health related bill selected for this case is the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021.
| Legislation Grid Template | |
| Health–Related Bill Name
|
Health Care Improvement Act of 2021. This act is an improvement act was proposed by Mark R. Warner, the Senator of Virginia, a Democrat.
|
| Description
|
The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 is aimed at addressing the health and economic impacts that Americans are currently facing largely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The proponents of the Bill with the support of the Democratic Party recognized that the challenges that a majority of Americans are suffering because of the inability to access and afford health care. Largely, the intention of this bill is to address this issue and avoid the recurrent inability by majority of Americans to address healthcare. In America, not everyone has access to healthcare insurance and this compounds the problem with access to healthcare. Part of the bill is to review the terms and conditions of healthcare insurance with the objective of making insurance vis-à-vis healthcare to a majority of Americans.
A perhaps most important objective of the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 is the protection of healthcare for persons with preexisting conditions that are disadvantaged when it comes to insurance coverage. The bill intends to address their plight by, among other things, ensuring that these preexisting conditions do not become a massive impediment to their access to healthcare and that insurance providers do not exploit them on the basis of these preexisting conditions. During the presentation of the bill to the senate, the proponent, Sen. Warner stated that the bill would make healthcare more affordable while maintaining its quality and that more families would be able to access it.
|
| Federal or State
|
Federal
The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 is federal as it targets each and every state and individual across the country.
|
| Legislative Intent | The proponents of the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 recognized that there exist loopholes in the current healthcare system especially as pertains insurance coverage and this motivated the proposal of the bill. An important legislative intent is to first heighten the level of healthcare access and quality. This will be achieved by closing the existing coverage gaps that limit the number of people that have access to care. Legally, all Americans should have access to healthcare and the existing gaps limit the ability of the less endowed Americans to shy away or be rejected by care providers and insurance providers. The second aspect of legislative intent of the bill is to review the application of premiums for coverage. People covered by insurance expect that since the duly pay their premiums for healthcare, when needs for them to seek medical care arises, they are not prompted to pay incremental premiums. Ideally, the bill intends to review the premiums paid by individuals – to lower the premiums specifically.
A third legal intent is that by passing the bill, premium assistance will be expanded. It is hoped that the bill will emphasize on the number of benefits for the insurance subscribers be increased such that they are reimbursed all, or almost all, the medical expenses they have incurred seeking medical care. Lastly, it is expected that through this bill, healthcare providers will be called upon to offer public health insurance options.
|
| Target Population | This bill targets all Americans covered or not covered by Medicaid.
|
| Status of the Bill (Is it in hearing or committees? Is it receiving press coverage? | The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 was introduced to the Senate on the 22nd of February 2021. As of today, it has been read twice. After the second hearing by the Senate it was referred to the Committee on Finance and as per the details available, no further progress has been made.
|
| General Notes/ Comments | The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 is well intended on the ground that its objective is to increase the health outcomes of the entire country through two ways. Firstly, it seeks to make healthcare accessible to as many Americans as possible. This is regardless of whether one is able to pay for insurance. Secondly, the bill intends to make healthcare more affordable by regulating the premiums charged by insurance companies and the extent of coverage of the premiums. Suffice to say, the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 intends to harmonize healthcare by regulating how healthcare providers and insurers operate.
|
Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement
By making health care affordable and insurance coverage wider, a larger population of Americans would be reached and this would help increase health care outcomes. From a nursing perspective, the objective is to see patients get quality care and be able to pay for it (Auener et al., 2020). As it is, there are many Americans especially the middle and lower income earners that cannot afford healthcare and this is compromising their health a lot. From my personal experience, I have seen patients run away from hospitals because they are more worried by the inability to afford care than they are on the healthcare conditions afflicting them. Hopefully, the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 will be passed and the legislative intents within it enacted.
It is not everyone that is supportive of the proposed healthcare related bill. Maybe those opposed to it do not realize the logic behind it and shedding light to some of the critical components of the bill would be helpful. The opponents to the bill need to be aware that although Medicaid is intended to offer coverage to low income earners in America including persons over 65 years, children and pregnant women, there is still some that are not covered leaving them vulnerable to health issues (Awad et al., 2021). Consider the homeless populations and unemployed as examples. The government needs to factor in the plight of these groups as they too form part of what is America. The opponents also need to recognize that everything in America including healthcare, comes at a price. When this is too high, the less affluent population is locked out. However, when the opposite is done, meaning the price of healthcare and premiums are lowered, the access is increased and, needless to say, health care improved for all.
References
Antonisse, L., Garfield, R., Rudowitz, R., & Artiga, S. (2018). The effects of Medicaid expansion under the ACA: updated findings from a literature review. Published March.
Auener, S., Kroon, D., Wackers, E., Van Dulmen, S., & Jeurissen, P. (2020). COVID-19: a window of opportunity for positive healthcare reforms. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 9(10), 419. https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2020.66
Awad, A., Trenfield, S. J., Pollard, T. D., Ong, J. J., Elbadawi, M., McCoubrey, L. E., … & Basit, A. W. (2021). Connected healthcare: Improving patient care using digital health technologies. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 178, 113958. doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2021.113958
Health Care Improvement Act of 2021. Available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/352