Health Coverage or Insurance as a Global Health Issue.

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Health Coverage or Insurance as a Global Health Issue.

 

Review the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global health agenda and select one global health issue to focus on for this Assignment.
Select at least one additional country to compare to the U.S. for this Assignment.Health Coverage or Insurance as a Global Health Issue.

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Reflect on how the global health issue you selected is approached in the U.S. and in the additional country you selected.
Review and download the Global Health Comparison Matrix provided in the Resources.
The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Global Health Comparison Matrix; 1-page Plan for Social Change)

Part 1: Global Health Comparison Matrix

Focusing on the country you selected and the U.S., complete the Global Health Comparison Matrix. Be sure to address the following:

Consider the U.S. national/federal health policies that have been adapted for the global health issue you selected from the WHO global health agenda. Compare these policies to the additional country you selected for study.
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of each policy.
Explain how the social determinants of health may impact the global health issue you selected. Be specific and provide examples.
Using the WHO’s Organization’s global health agenda as well as the results of your own research, analyze how each country’s government addresses cost, quality, and access to the global health issue selected.
Explain how the health policy you selected might impact the health of the global population. Be specific and provide examples.Health Coverage or Insurance as a Global Health Issue.
Explain how the health policy you selected might impact the role of the nurse in each country.
Explain how global health issues impact local healthcare organizations and policies in both countries. Be specific and provide examples.
Part 2: A Plan for Social Change

Reflect on the global health policy comparison and analysis you conducted in Part 1 of the Assignment and the impact that global health issues may have on the world, the U.S., your community, as well as your practice as a nurse leader.

In a 1-page response, create a plan for social change that incorporates a global perspective or lens into your local practice and role as a nurse leader.

Explain how you would advocate for the incorporation of a global perspective or lens into your local practice and role as a nurse leader.
Explain how the incorporation of a global perspective or lens might impact your local practice and role as a nurse leader.
Explain how the incorporation of a global perspective or lens into your local practice as a nurse leader represents and contributes to social change. Be specific and provide examples

It is generally accepted by all stakeholders that healthcare costs in the United States are some of the most expensive in the world. This is in comparison to the rest of the developed world that cushions their citizens by providing either universal access to all or a model close to that. Healthcare in the US is still governed by free market policies and capitalist ideology with no regard to equity and social justice. To date, the US is one of the few developed countries in the world that still does not have universal access to healthcare for its citizens (Shi & Singh, 2019; Sultz & Kroth, 2018). To its credit, the Obama administration that was in office between 2008 and 2016 went down in history as the only administration that came close to giving Americans a model of healthcare access close to universal access. This was through the famous legislative policy fondly referred to as “Obamacare” by its proponents. It is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA 2010 (Kominski et al., 2017). This paper compares healthcare insurance coverage between the US and the United Kingdom by using the global health comparison matrix below:Health Coverage or Insurance as a Global Health Issue.

Global Healthcare Comparison Matrix

Global healthcare issue Healthcare Coverage/ Insurance
Description of the issue Equity & social justice in health
Country USA UK
Description of country’s healthcare policy Private payers insure those who can afford while the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or CMS covers the rest under the ACA 2010 (Holder et al., 2017). All citizens are covered through the NHS by 80% of tax money and only share the remaining 20% in affordable premiums (Full Fact, 2019).
Strength(s) of the policy The ACA 2010 provides incentives to payers to cover even those with pre-existing conditions. Coverage is indiscriminate for all UK citizens.
Weaknesses of the policy Some provisions in the ACA have to be realized by individual states. Only the employed fund healthcare through tax.
Impact of the SDOH on the healthcare issue Low socioeconomic status as a social determinant of health prevents poor citizens from accessing quality services. Socioeconomic status has little impact since only 20% is paid by individuals as premiums.
How each government has addressed cost, quality, and access to coverage Cost is still discretionary and access is limited by premiums. Quality is assured by value-based reimbursement (Safran & Higgins, 2019). Cost is addressed by tax funding, access is guaranteed by universality, and quality is regulated by NHS accreditation.
How coverage policy has impacted the population Non-uniformity of policies around the globe has made diseases difficult to control. Lack of universal access in other countries makes the UK vulnerable to imported disease.
Impact of policy on the nurse’s role The nurse has to know where to refer poor patients for federal assistance as patient advocates. The nurse must treat all patients equitably irrespective of their socioeconomic status as all are covered.
Impact of global health issues on healthcare & policies Local organizations must adopt global policies in times of pandemics. Local organizations must adhere to global policies especially in pandemics.
General comments A lot needs to improve to achieve near universal healthcare coverage in the US. Unemployed citizens need help with paying premiums.

 

Social Change Plan

Based on the analysis above, the plan for social change will be as follows:

  • Advocacy for the incorporation of a global lens into local practice by the nurse will entail driving organizational policies that have the interest of the general population at heart. For instance, just as the World Health Organization funds several initiatives in poor countries the local organizations can also engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and offer free services to the vulnerable.
  • Impact on the role of a nurse leader will be in sensitizing vulnerable communities on the availability of the CSR services.
  • Incorporating this global perspective will bring social change through the efforts of the nurse leader when morbidity and mortality rates in the vulnerable populations go down.Health Coverage or Insurance as a Global Health Issue.