...Health Policy Brief Statement of the Issue: Becoming sick without health insurance can be physically and financially devastating. The working class people and those who have been recently terminated from their employment unfortunately cannot buy health insurance due to its expensive nature. Self-employed workers and small business owners also lack the resources to buy this provision. In order to help the 41 million uninsured Americans, Congress passed the Health Care Reform Bill called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Supporting Data and Information The issue of health care reform is not a novelty in the United States. One of the earliest health care reform proposals at the federal level was the 1854 Bill for the Benefit of the Indigent Insane, proposed by Dorothea Dix but was eventually vetoed by president Franklin Pierce. The bill was intended to establish asylums for the insane, blind, deaf, and dumb through land grants given by the government to the individual states. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson created Medicare and Medicaid, insurance programs that provided health insurance to people aged 65 and over and that partially funded a program for those with low income respectively. In 2010, President Barack Obama enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Through the PPACA, the government will be able to provide a system of mandated health insurance over four years and eliminate “some of the worst practices of insurance companies”...
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...Neighborhood Public Policy This paper is regarding a scenario involving Marcus Young in an automobile accident and Angie Young, Marcus’ mother and her attempt to change public safety for children in her residential area. The paper will also discuss the Legislative process, the different approaches of the Neighborhood Council and Angie Young’s ability to refute the opponent’s claims and propositions. Public safety and public health cannot be separated. Anywhere there are safety issues, it affects the people around the unsafe zone. Neighborhood scenarios represent both public safety and public health. Marcus Young was playing around the neighborhood and got into a car accident where he was struck and suffered a pelvic fracture, a right leg fracture, and multiple lacerations to the body. He is now in stable condition at an intensive care unit. Marcus’ mother, Angie Young wants to prevent these incidents from happening in the future to other families in the community. She wants to put speed bumps in her residential area. She is planning to take this matter to the state and local Neighborhood Council. This scenario exemplified the legislative process and how it influences public health in the Neighborhood community. Angie Young discovered a problem for public safety and is planning to take this matter to state and local Neighborhood Council. She wrote a letter to a congresswoman and made phone calls to city officials. While waiting for the meeting, she organized a Neighborhood...
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...Public health and health care Concepts of Population Health HCS/535 The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, coordinate efforts in conjunction with states and other partnersto offer a system of health surveillance, which would monitor and prevent disease outbreaks, which includes bioterrorism. The goal of the agency is to implement strategies to prevent diseases as well as maintain national health statistics. Another role of the CDC is to safeguard against international disease transmission, this is vital as the agency has personnel located several countries outside the United States. Looking at the agency’s core functions, examining influences in the workplace, and identifying roles of the agency personnel is vital to understanding the CDC’s contribution(Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.). Core functions The primary focus of the CDC has been geared toward the protection of health and the promotion of life. This is achieved through preventing and controlling of disease, injury, and forms of disability. This will be attained through collaborative efforts with partnerships in the United States as well as throughout the world. These efforts include monitoring health, detecting and investigating health issues, performing research to improve prevention, develop and promote policies, spearhead leadership and training, and foster safe and healthy environments(Fos& Fine, 2005). Support to the Public Health System The CDC is a sub-set...
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...Review the health policies of each of the following countries. Then, choose a country from the following list to compare and contrast with the current U.S. healthcare system: China England Germany Australia Canada Japan Once you have thoroughly analyzed the health policy information for your chosen country, answer the following questions: What is the main focus of the policy standard in this (chosen) country? What are the similarities to the U.S. healthcare system? Governance Workforce Leadership Quality How does the U.S. healthcare system differ in terms of policy? Where do you foresee the U.S. healthcare system in the future (long-/short- term)? ( Review from one of the the following perspectives: the provider, the patient, or other stakeholders) Summarize the meaning of universality in U.S. health policy versus your chosen country. (Include your research on the future of the U.S. healthcare system) The paper: Must be 4 to 6 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Must include a separate title page with the following: Title of paper Student’s name Course name and number Instructor’s name Date submitted Must use at least four (4) scholarly sources in addition to the course text. Must document all sources...
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...experiences that contribute to decision making. I originated from Nairobi, Kenya and was raised in a middle class conservative Christian household. All my life has focused on respect for my culture, language, good health, good work ethics, professionalism, reliability, optimism, respect for all humans, respect for laws, religion, education, friendships and keeping up with major life events like graduation, birthdays, baby showers and weddings. As Christian I believe in God and the existence of Christianity which has been a source of my strength all my life. In our younger years, all the family members were encouraged to participate in church activities which I still believe is important to my lifestyle and has given me confidence and believe that I am who I am today because of God. As nurses, the beliefs we have developed may be related to the stereotypes that we have formed around issues like sexuality, abortion, alcohol, marriage, ageing and disability, health care policy and other people’s rights (Federico, 2009). As healthcare workers our duty is to provide services that meet or target group and help them feel empowered without being judgmental thus avoiding imposing our values and beliefs on other people (Federico, 2009). Beliefs and opinions about health care policy Newport (2013) states that recent research on healthcare quality, cost and coverage shows that quality of healthcare is a constant concern. Americans continue to be much more positive and believe in the...
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...Learned: Developing the Health Promotion Strategy and Action Plan in Georgia In 2009 Oxford Policy Management (OPM) completed technical work to support the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, Georgia, in producing a comprehensive national Health Promotion Strategy (HPS) along with a prioritised Health Promotion Action Plan (HPAP). This work was commissioned as part of the European Union support to the Ministry, aimed at facilitating evolution of key evidence-based policies, and enabling the people of Georgia to increase control over their health and its determinants. This briefing note develops the case for giving support to the Georgian government in elaborating the HPS. It argues that transparent and participatory processes must be established to assure strong national ownership and consensus over the outputs. The process must also guarantee the skills transfer and capacity building of national stakeholders; and be flexible and highly responsive to the government needs while producing strategies effective, feasible and applicable to the local context. Georgian public health Over recent years Georgian efforts to adopt and nurture a democratic market oriented economy have been impressive (Chanturidze et al. 2009). On the down side however, the Georgian health sector still demonstrates system imbalances between curative services and O x f o r d • prevention, and between clinical services and primary health care (MoLHSA 2009b)...
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...Nurse as an Advocate Nursing Leadership Health Policy Advocating for Health Care Policies. Nurse’s Vital Role as Policy Advocates Introduction “I’m not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward” Thomas Edison (1847-1931). In today’s healthcare system, nurses are aware of the inconsistencies and the troubles that the healthcare system faces, and a need for a change. Expert nurses and nurses with vast experience are stepping forward and motivated to take part in advocacy roles. This movement is initiating a great wave of change in nursing world and how nurses influence a change in policies, regulations and law that oversee the health care system. Nurses stepping into this arena requires great deal of courage and knowledge on how the policies and politics interchange hands to implement a major change in health care system. The nurses who step up into this role should have the will, power and with power comes responsibility to negotiate through the legal system. Methods to advocate for health Nurses taking part in advocacy is not new anymore, but what advocacy means is still a mystery in nursing world. Great theorist like Florence Nightingale and her efforts, did influence other nurses throughout the nursing profession to step out of the box and shape the health system, where discover, heal and teach remains the core motto. Nurses throughout the world in some shape or form initiated policy recommendations, represented their view through...
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...Health Policy Brief High deductible health plans This brief summarizes some of the contributing factors of high deductible plans. High deductible plans can reduce health care cost by decreasing health care use by the consumer. According to this policy brief, a high deductible plan reduces the amount of the consumer's premium, while increasing the deductible amount ("High-Deductible," 2016). This has become more popular resulting in a deductible increase by 67% since 2010 in employer-based markets ("High-Deductible," 2016). Approximately half of employees have insurance with the deductible amount of at least 1,000 dollars annually. Consumer driven health plans such as health savings accounts (HSA) and health reimbursement accounts (HRA) can be coupled with high deductible health plans ("High-Deductible," 2016). The ACA includes tiers of value such as platinum, gold, silver and bronze with the lowest premiums given to people who enroll in the lower tiers (lower tier plans cover less than higher tier plans) causing more people to enroll in these plans ("High-Deductible," 2016)....
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...Policy Brief Families are often faced with a range of different, complex health and psychosocial problems. Place-based approaches aim to address these complex problems by focusing on the social and physical environment of a community and on better integrated and more accessible service systems, rather than focusing principally on the problems faced by individuals. A place-based approach targets an entire community and aims to address issues that exist at the neighbourhood level, such as poor housing, social isolation, poor or fragmented service provision that leads to gaps or duplication of effort, and limited economic opportunities. By using a community engagement approach to address complex problems, a place-based approach seeks to make families and communities more engaged, connected and resilient. An initiative of The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne Centre for Community Child Health Issue 23 > 2011 Translating early childhood research evidence to inform policy and practice Place-based approaches to supporting children and families Additionally, the circumstances in which children are growing up have changed10. Children now have fewer models of caregiving, community environments are less child-friendly and electronic media has become a dominant feature in children’s lives12,13,14. Social climate change is also evident in the increasing complexity of modern society15. One manifestation of this complexity is the increase in ‘wicked’ problems16 such as obesity...
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...consumers face a baffling health insurance marketplace, especially if they buy insurance on their own. Americans find it all but impossible to compare health insurance policies on an “apples-to-apples” basis because the policies are written in legalese and the terms of coverage are so varied. As lawmakers consider comprehensive health care reform, they have an opportunity to manage the way we “shop” for health insurance. Recommendations include new consumer-friendly rules for the health insurance marketplace. These rules require clear and consistent definitions of insurance terms, standardized health plan provisions, new health plan disclosure forms, unbiased enrollment assistance and rigorous enforcement at the state and national levels (Healthy Policy Brief, 2009). There is a more improved way to seek health insurance. We need a health insurance marketplace which has consumer protections commensurate with the importance of the purchase, new rules for insurance plan disclosure that considers real consumer decision-making behavior and less variation in health plan design so that consumers can easily compare benefits and costs. In order to create this new marketplace, there is a proposal of five specific changes that must be created: a manageable number of plan choices, standardized benefit designs, standardized consumer-friendly health plan materials, decision aids and a strong federal oversight body. Consumers should have a manageable number of “good” health plan options. Building...
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...FEBRUARY 2010 Policy Brief ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Economic Survey of China, 2010 What are the key challenges facing the economy? How should the monetary policy framework evolve? What reforms are needed in financial and product markets? How should social safety nets be strengthened? How has the labour market evolved? Can pensions be enhanced? How should health care be improved? For further information For further reading Where to contact us? Summary Since the OECD’s first Economic Survey of China in 2005, China has continued to expand rapidly. The economy is also weathering the global crisis remarkably well, not least thanks to prompt and vigorous macroeconomic policy action. Economic expansion is projected to continue over the medium run, and China’s share in the world economy is set to grow further. Despite the recent decline in the current account surplus, some imbalances remain, notably an overly high national saving rate, but ongoing reforms can be expected to help alleviate them over time. Structural reform has continued on a broad front in recent years, with an increasing focus on the need for social cohesion. Even so, efforts are under way or still needed in a number of areas to sustain improvements in living standards over the longer run. Further upgrading the monetary policy framework. China’s monetary policy framework has gradually become more market-based, with money growth as the main intermediate target. Going forward, it...
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...improve the efficiency, quality, and the overall worth of health care. The expectation is that these changes will provide to physicians, hospitals and other health care providers with financial incentives to finance improvements and accomplish improved results for the patient. There are positive and negative affects of the pay-for-performance programs, although we can’t predict the future and the outcome of these initiatives, the health care system will definitely feel the pressure to perform with respect to outcome accountability. With the continuous changes of government regulations the pressure to provide reliable high quality health care will increase. Pay-for-performance is the newest regulatory effort in health the insurance industry. Health care providers who participate with the insurance carrier are compensated for meeting pre-set goals for how they deliver health care services. This is an important modification from the fee for service method of payment. Pay-for-performance has been well liked by politicians as well as, Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies. The Affordable Care Act increases the usage of pay-for-performance methodologies specifically with Medicare and inspires experimentation to isolate policies and programs that would be more effective. Deterrents to the health care system are proposing excluding payments for medical errors or rise in health care costs. “This policy brief reviews the background and current state of public and...
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...Obamacare has some key elements to the policy. The main key element is the requirement of every individual to purchase government approved heath care insurance. Families and individuals currently carrying insurance will be able to keep those plans. Tax credits will be issued to families and individuals that make less than four hundred percent below federal poverty line, who do not qualify for Medicaid. Also, there will be a requirement to health care insurances to cover reproduction preventatives for women without and fees or co-pays. Next, a brief history of the policy will be discussed (Obamacare, n/a.dd). A system of federalism is lacking in the Obamacare Policy. Federalism was created to balance the power between federal and state governments. Obamacare is lacking the governance of state and local entities, leaving the federal government as the sole power. The federal government is forcing an individual mandate to every individual to purchase health insurance, but legally is it the states that have the authority to make the final decisions on governmental programs. There is tension that if the states buck the federal government of the issue, they may lose federal funding for Medicaid. There are pros and cons to the new policy (Obamacare, 2010). There are several pros to Obamacare. It was created to reduce the overall health care deficit by having every individual care health insurance. This would promote health and be a preventive to the emergency room. Those...
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...Research Brief N AT I O N A L D E F E N S E R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U TE China and India The Asian Giants Are Heading Down Different Demographic Paths RAND ReseARch AReAs ChiLDREN AND FAMiLiES EDUCAtiON AND thE ARtS ENERgy AND ENviRONMENt hEALth AND hEALth CARE iNFRAStRUCtURE AND tRANSPORtAtiON iNtERNAtiONAL AFFAiRS LAW AND BUSiNESS NAtiONAL SECURity POPULAtiON AND AgiNg PUBLiC SAFEty SCiENCE AND tEChNOLOgy tERRORiSM AND hOMELAND SECURity C hina and India, the world’s most populous nations, have much in common: Each has more than 1 billion residents; each has sustained an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate over the past decade that is among the world’s highest—9 percent for China and 7 percent for India; and each has been among the world’s most successful in weathering the storm of the recent global recession. Yet a closer look reveals stark demographic contrasts between the two nations that will become more pronounced in the coming decades. These differences hold implications for China’s and India’s relative economic prospects and point to sharply different challenges ahead for each nation to sustain and build on recent economic growth. Abstract Demographic contrasts between china and India will become more pronounced in the coming decades, and these differences hold implications for the countries’ relative economic prospects. china’s population is larger than India’s, but India’s population is expected to surpass china’s by 2025. chi...
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...The Impact of Nursing – 21st Century Changes This paper will review the 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the future of nursing and highlight the need of lifelong education for nurses as changes occur in the American health care system. The leadership role of the 21st century nurse is changing in and outside of traditional healthcare settings. The paper will include possibilities of the nurse’s functions in the changing administrative and policy making capacity in the health care profession. In addition to providing information about educational needs and leadership roles the paper includes an opinion of personal practice as it relates to the goals of the IOM report’s Focus on Scope of Practice. Learning should be a lifelong venture for many professions that have changes occurring during their careers. Nursing is one of the professions that will benefit if the majority of practitioners take up the challenge of continual education during their careers. Society will be the beneficiary of the nurse’s increased knowledge and skill. The IOM report states “All health care organizations and schools of nursing should foster a culture of lifelong learning and provide resources for interprofessional continuing competency programs” (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 6). The report continues with recommendations of “funding for grants and scholarships for nurses” to accommodate the lifelong learning...
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