Population Health Policy Analysis Essay

Select a current or proposed health care policy that is designed to improve a specific population’s access to quality, cost-effective health care. In a paper of 1,000-1,250 words, include the following:

Explain the policy and how it is designed to improve cost-effectiveness and health care equity for the population. Is the policy financially sound? Why or why not? How does the policy account for any relevant ethical, legal, and political factors and the nursing perceptive one must consider when implementing it?
To what state, federal, global health policies or goals is this particular policy related? How well do you think the policy is designed to achieve those goals?
Finally, discuss the advocacy strategies you would employ on behalf of your population to ensure they have access to the benefits of the policy. Explain, from a Christian perspective, the professional and moral obligation of advanced registered nurse to advocate for and promote health and prevent disease among diverse populations.
You are required to cite five to 10 sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and nursing content.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

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Population Health Policy Analysis

Introduction

Compared to other wealthy countries, the United States has the largest socioeconomic discrepancies in health care access.   The ability of individuals to access health care services is largely connected with socioeconomic characteristics, entailing wealth, employment, and income. Compared to high-income groups, people in low socioeconomic strata are to afford health insurance and less likely to receive health care services due to high out-of-pocket costs.  The paper analyzes the affordable Care Act (ACA) as a current health care policy that is intended to improve the low-income population’s access to cost-effective and quality health care.Population Health Policy Analysis

The policy and how it is designed to improve cost-effectiveness and health care equity for the population

The ACA is a health law enacted in March 2010.  The law is aimed at expanding health insurance coverage mainly for low-income families and individuals because they make up the vast majority of those without insurance. According to Griffith et al. (2019), the ACA was designed to expand health care access through the expansion of insurance coverage. Even though some provisions of the law target individuals of all income levels, such as forbidding insurers from excluding individuals with preexisting conditions, major features of the health care policy wanted to amplify coverage specifically among low-income individuals.

To increase coverage for individuals with low incomes, the health law utilizes two basic approaches: it expands eligibility for Medicaid families and individuals with incomes at 138 percent of the federal poverty level(FPL)  and provides premium subsidies (  for individuals with incomes from one hundred percent to four hundred percent to buy insurance in state Marketplaces/ health insurance exchanges Kominski et al. (2017) indicate that when the ACA was enacted in 2020, nearly fifty Americans did not have insurance, approximately 19 percent of the nonelderly population and estimated 91 percent of the uninsured had incomes below 400 percent FPL and therefore had the potential to benefit under the law. Consequently, the ACA has a high potential for increasing coverage for low-income populations.

The ACA was designed with the major focus of increasing those with health insurance coverage.  Although the law has enabled millions of Americans who were previously uninsured to get coverage, it seems not to be financially sound because it has not led to reductions in healthcare spending. According to Antos et al. (2020), the ACA has not stemmed high and swiftly rising costs of health care for all citizens. Delivery reforms advanced by the CMS innovation center have demonstrated disappointing results and mechanisms aimed at reining federal costs have been abandoned. Population Health Policy Analysis

The health care policy has endured several political and legal challenges following its enactment. According to  Mclyntyre and Song  (2019), the House has advanced more than fifty bills to partly or entirely repeal the ACA, with the Senate voting in favor of some of them. Other serious to the sustainability of the law have come from courts. In 2012, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling which made state expansion of Medicaid optional.  Several states have declined to implement Medicaid expansion.

The state, federal, global health policies or goals to what the policy is related

The ACA is related to the state, global, and federal goals of achieving equity in health care. According to Shi & Johnson (2020), equity in health care is a   significant but challenging goal for global health. Attaining equity is a challenge for even the wealthiest nations in the globe. The ACA was intended to make the United States healthcare system fairer and more accessible for all citizens. The ACA is well designed to achieve state, federal, and global goals of achieving equity in health care.  Apart from expanding Medicaid,   The ACA created state marketplaces where consumers are able to compare identical coverage options and select among competing plans.

The ACA has numerous provisions aimed at increasing overall insurance coverage. According to French et al. (2016), the dependent coverage provision of the health law enabled young to be covered by their parent’s insurance until they are 26 years.  The employer mandate provision requires larger employers to provide reasonably priced, comprehensive health insurance to their staff who work on a full-time basis. Individual mandate provision requires people without employer-sponsored insurance to buy insurance individually or risk being penalized and some are offered premium tax credits.  Small businesses along with people without employer-sponsored insurance can buy plans via the federal marketplace or state Marketplace. The ACA has also reformed private insurance in numerous significant ways. According to Mclyntyre and Song (2019), the ACA has established consumer protections, notably, forbidding insurance companies from refusing to provide coverage to individuals with medical conditions or making premiums costly.Population Health Policy Analysis

The advocacy strategies I would employ

The ACA has increased the number of Americans with health insurance, leading to increased demand for health care services providers. I would advocate on behalf of y population to ensure they have access to the benefits of the health policy by private and government health care organizations to hire more staff.  I would urge states that do not allow APRNs to practice independently to review their state of practice laws to allow APRNs to practice autonomously and increase patient access to care.  Cleveland et al. (2019) allege that the removal of barriers that prevent APRNs from practicing at the top of their education and training has enabled nurses in advance practice to fully partner with doctors and other health care providers and increased patient access to care.

The patient is vulnerable and experiences varying degrees of harm. Thus, numerous opportunities emerge in nursing for the execution of patient advocacy.  According to Davoodvand et al. (2016), advocacy in nursing refers to being the representative of a patient, defending the universal rights of the patient, protecting the patient’s interests,   contributing to the making of decisions, and supporting decisions of the patient.  From

From a Christian perspective,  an advanced practice nurse is morally and professionally obligated to advocate for and prevent disease and promote health among diverse populations.   Through secular advocacy, nurses lobby legislators and states board of nursing to pay attention to what is important to their patients, biblical advocacy implies nurses doing what God has called them to do.  In Proverbs 31: 8-9, the Bible tells us to speak up for people who are unable to speak for themselves, for the rights of the destitute, and to defend the rights of the needy and poor.  In Isaiah 1:17, the bible tells us to see justice and loosen chains of injustice (Isaiah 58:6). Christian advocacy aims at bringing justice to those facing discrimination and poverty and helping God’s children to fully experience life.

Conclusion

The ACA is an influential health care policy that was intended to enable more Americans to have health insurance coverage, specifically low-income populations. The law expands Medicaid eligibility and provides subsidies to enable people to buy insurance. The ACA is related to global, state, and federal goals of achieving equity for all Americans and it has several strategies including the employer mandate, individual mandate, and dependent coverage provisions which are aimed at expanding coverage.Population Health Policy Analysis

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References

Antos, J. R., & Capretta, J. C. (2020). The ACA: Trillions? Yes. A Revolution? No. Health Affairs

Davoodvand, S., Abbaszadeh, A., & Ahmadi, F. (2016). Patient advocacy from the clinical nurses’ viewpoint: a qualitative study. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 9, 5.

French, M. T.,   Homer, J., Gumus, G., &  Hickling, L. (2016). Key Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): A Systematic Review and Presentation of Early Research Findings. Health Services Research, 51(5), 1735-1771. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12511

Cleveland, K. A., Motter, T., & Smith, Y. (2019). Affordable Care: Harnessing the Power of Nurses. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 24(2), Manuscript 2.

Griffith, K., Evans, L., & Bor, J. (2017). The Affordable Care Act Reduced Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Care Access, Health Affairs, 36(8), https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0083

Kominski, G. F., Nonzee, N. J., &  Sorensen, A.  (2017). The Affordable Care Act’s Impacts on Access to Insurance and Health Care for Low-Income Populations. Annual Review of  Public Health, 38, 489-505. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044555

Mclyntyre, A., & Song, Z. (2019).  The US Affordable Care Act: Reflections and directions at the close of a decade. PLoS Medicine, 16(2), e1002752. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002752

Shi, L., & Johnson, J. A. (2020). Novick & Morrow’s Public Health Administration: Principles for Population-Based Management. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Population Health Policy Analysis Essay