Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief
Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief
It may seem to you that healthcare has been a national topic of debate among political leaders for as long as you can remember.
Healthcare has been a policy item and a topic of debate not only in recent times but as far back as the administration of the second U.S. president, John Adams. In 1798, Adams signed legislation requiring that 20 cents per month of a sailor’s paycheck be set aside for covering their medical bills. This represented the first major piece of U.S. healthcare legislation, and the topic of healthcare has been woven into presidential agendas and political debate ever since.
As a healthcare professional, you may be called upon to provide expertise, guidance and/or opinions on healthcare matters as they are debated for inclusion into new policy. You may also be involved in planning new organizational policy and responses to changes in legislation. For all of these reasons you should be prepared to speak to national healthcare issues making the news.
In this Assignment, you will analyze recent presidential healthcare agendas. You also will prepare a fact sheet to communicate the importance of a healthcare issue and the impact on this issue of recent or proposed policy.
To Prepare:
Review the agenda priorities of the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidential administrations.
Select an issue related to healthcare that was addressed by each of the last three U.S. presidential administrations.
Reflect on the focus of their respective agendas, including the allocation of financial resources for addressing the healthcare issue you selected.
Consider how you would communicate the importance of a healthcare issue to a legislator/policymaker or a member of their staff for inclusion on an agenda.
The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Comparison Grid, 1-Page Analysis, and 1-page Fact Sheet)
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
Use the Agenda Comparison Grid Template found in the Learning Resources and complete the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid based on the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidential administrations and their agendas related to the public health concern you selected. Be sure to address the following:
Identify and provide a brief description of the population health concern you selected and the factors that contribute to it.
Describe the administrative agenda focus related to the issue you selected.
Identify the allocations of financial and other resources that the current and two previous presidents dedicated to this issue.
Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue.
Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis
Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid on the template, complete the Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis portion of the template, by addressing the following:
Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?
How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the agenda for the current and two previous presidents? How does it stay there?
Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected for the current and two previous presidents?
At least 2 outside and 2-3 course resources are used.
Part 3: Narrative
Using the information recorded on the template in Parts 1 and 2, develop a 1-page narrative that you could use to communicate with a policymaker/legislator or a member of their staff for this healthcare issue. Be sure to address the following:
Summarize why this healthcare issue is important and should be included in the agenda for legislation.
Justify the role of the nurse in agenda-setting for healthcare issues.
At least 3 resources are used.
Title
First Name Last Name
Walden University
Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health
NURS 6050
Date
Title of Paper
(add an introduction in this space)
Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
Health Issue
Affordability of healthcare services: Affordability of healthcare services in the US remains a challenge even with continuous political policy changes. Currently, 25% of Americans cannot seek healthcare services because they cannot afford to pay for those services (Batarseh et al., 2020). The challenge is bigger when the issue is explored through various demographic elements. Factors such as race, age, and social status have played a vital role in how Americans can afford to service their healthcare needs.
The Population
The Hispanics are the most affected by healthcare affordability compared to other ethnic groups in the US. Hispanics constitute 16.7% of the US population or 52 million people. Among the minority groups, the number of Hispanics keeps increasing (Batarseh et al., 2020). They constitute some of the fastest-growing population segments in the US. The population of Hispanics has grown by approximately 10 million individuals in the period between 2010 and 2019. Considering their growth, it should be normal that the government shows an insight into their needs, especially healthcare needs. However, fewer Hispanics are managing to afford healthcare by day. In the first half of 2019, more than 27% of the Hispanic population could not afford healthcare services (Batarseh et al., 2020). That was higher than the national statistics that indicated that 25% of Americans could not afford healthcare services. That number increased considerably from the 2016 statistics when only 19% of Hispanics could not afford healthcare (Batarseh et al., 2020). Compared to other ethnic groups, only blacks at 13.6% come closer to the Hispanics number, with whites and Asian Americans recording the highest affordability index.Multiple factors are attributable to the healthcare affordability index among Hispanics. Primarily, the poverty index among Hispanics has also been increasing considerably. Hispanics constituted more than 33% of Americans who live in poverty in 2019. That number increased from 28% in 2010. Hispanic children constitute 47% of all the children in the US who live in poverty. With increasing poverty indices, it becomes challenging for Hispanics to afford healthcare services. The other challenge is skewed healthcare services. Hispanics are victims of the skewed healthcare services that have not favored the minority ethnic groups for long. With an increasing population, Hispanics are poised to face multiple healthcare challenges soon.
Administration (President Name) President Trump President Obama President Bush
The administrative agenda focus related to affordable care. President Trump was motivated to repeal the Affordable Care Act as his predecessor, Obama initiated it. The American Healthcare Act (AHA) was a reconciliation bill. That is, it focused on addressing the fiscal elements of ACA. AHA does not intend to repeal ACA completely (Stopka, Hutcheson, & Donahue, 2017). While AHA passed the congress, the senate has failed to deliberate and agree on the details of fiscal cuts in the bill. Upon cutting the fiscal expenditure, Trump expects healthcare coverage to increase. AHA would repeal the tax penalties on individuals for not maintaining health coverage and on employers for not offering coverage. Also, the repeals will income-based tax credits that dominate the acquisition of ACA would be eliminated. In the end, it would be cheaper to access healthcare insurance coverage.
President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the hallmark of his healthcare policy. ACA intended to accord all Americans access to healthcare insurance. The plan would be executed through public and private inputs (Cooper, 2012). ACA also demanded collective responsibility to guarantee universal access to healthcare services. Tax credits were poised to be vital in addressing the credit deficits aimed at implementing ACA. ACA also insists on prohibiting ratings based on pre-existing conditions. With ACA, individuals should access healthcare benefits that are similar to those of congress representatives. Multiple elements of ACA could have instilled better access to healthcare services. The policy demanded expansion of workforce capacity to accommodate more professionals and to ensure that each individual bore access to basic healthcare services. The other characteristics of ACA that emphasized affordability included lowering drug prices including through stakeholder negotiations, lowering the prevalence of healthcare lawsuits that keep increasing the healthcare costs, create an independent review organization to assess the effectiveness of the policy, change healthcare reimbursement strategies, and enhance competition in healthcare to instill an ideal operational environment. The Bush healthcare reforms focused on reducing ...