LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT

LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT

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.
  • Explain how the social determinants of income, age, education, or gender affect this legislation.
  • 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.

Can use this references and 2 outside references

Congress.govLinks to an external site.. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.congress.gov/

Taylor, D., Olshansky, E., Fugate-Woods, N., Johnson-Mallard, V., Safriet, B. J., & Hagan, T. (2017). Corrigendum to position statement: Political interference in sexual and reproductive health research and health professional education. Nursing Outlook, 65(2), 346–350Links to an external site..

United States House of RepresentativesLinks to an external site.. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.house.gov/

United States SenateLinks to an external site.. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.senate.gov/

United States Senate. (n.d.). Senate organization chart for the 117th CongressLinks to an external site..  https://www.senate.gov/reference/org_chart.htm

Document: Legislation Grid Template (Word document)Download Legislation Grid Template (Word document)

ORDER A CUSTOM-WRITTEN PAPER HERE

 

Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Healthcare providers such as nurses are on a daily bases tasked with taking care of patients. All too often, these healthcare professionals participate in influencing policies and one way through which they do this is take up advocacy roles intended at influencing healthcare policy. Antonisse et al. (2018) opined that modern day nurses recognize the need for being active participants in influencing policies on public health and issues facing them and the society as a whole. Following this, this report is a detailed analysis of a health-related bill proposed but yet to be enacted. Specifically, the identified bill upon which this analysis is based on is the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021.

Legislation Grid Template
Health–Related Bill Name

 

 Health Care Improvement Act of 2021.
Description

 

 The proposal of The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 by Mark R. Warner was motivated by the need to address the health and economic impacts that Americans faced at the time considering the impact that they had after the Covid-19 pandemic. The proponents of the bill recognized that a majority of Americans were suffering due to an inability to access healthcare. Given this, the intention of this bill, therefore, was to try and address the issue of access to healthcare by the larger American population (Awad et al., 2021). More importantly, the bill sought to avoid the recurrent inability Americans to access and afford healthcare. Also included in the bill is a call for the review of terms and conditions of healthcare insurance.

 
Proponents/ Opponents The proponents of this act are healthcare advocacy groups and progressive lawmakers. These two groups believe that expanding healthcare access would ultimately lead to reduced costs in healthcare and higher insurance coverage.

The opponents of this bill are the conservative lawmakers who are concerned with the likely financial burden that the bill could trigger.
Federal or State

 

 Federal

The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 is federal. The bill targets all states across the United States

 
Legislative Intent There are several legislative intents of this bill with the first being increasing healthcare access and quality for all Americans. Auener et al. (2020) explained that in order for this to be achieved, the currently existing coverage gaps limiting the number of people that have access to care should be closed. Secondly, the bill intends to comprehensively revise insurance premiums applied for coverage. Explaining on this, Awad et al. (2021) stated that when individuals pay their medical insurance, the expectation is that the subsequent premiums in later years are not predetermined by the frequency of their medical care. Thirdly, the bill intends to influence an expansion of premium assistance. Expectation is that upon passing, there will be an increase in the number of core benefits for the insured such as full or near full reimbursements.

 
Target Population The targeted population for this bill were all Americans. It did not matter whether they were currently covered or not.

 
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 by Mark R. Warner and has since been read two times. The bill was, after the second hearing, referred back to the Committee on Finance for further review. Since then, nothing much has taken place regarding the bill and it, therefore, still remains pending

 
General Notes/ Comments The public, legislators and healthcare providers collectively need to recognize that The Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 is well intended as it seeks to alleviate the health of the community through two unique ways – one, by increasing insurance coverage and, two, increasing the access of healthcare for all Americans. Research has also shown that the bill seeks to bring down the costs of healthcare.

 

 

Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Affordable healthcare has far-reaching benefits to the society. In addition to this, increasing insurance coverage would help facilitate this and this has been the long-term objective of successive governments in the United States (Antonisse et al, 2018). In the contemporary American society, there are millions of Americans especially the minority that are not insured and who have limited access to healthcare. Reflecting from the experiences I have had as a nursing student and in my professional practice, individuals tend to keep off hospitals even when they need medical care because they are dissuaded by the high costs of care. In truth, these individuals worry that the cost of care will place huge burdens on them and their families (Awad et al., 2021). Given this, it is hoped that through the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021, these overarching issues will be addressed.  The proposed bill has both supporters and notable opponents. Reviewing the issues raised by the opponents, I recognize that a majority of them fail to realize and understand the value in it especially in regards to increasing transparency in costs of care, widening coverage and generally alleviating healthcare access. Antonisse et al. (2018) hold the view that these opponents should be aware that while Medicaid has been beneficial in covering large populations especially the low-income earners in America such as the elderly, children and pregnant women, so much more should be done. The government is also called upon to factor in the plight of these minority and disadvantaged groups as they too form part of what is America.


 

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. https://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