NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

 Healthcare reform in the United States has been such a controversial and debatable issue for many, many years. The biggest changes in healthcare have been made in the 21^st century with ample success, but there have still been some failures and setbacks. There are still many citizens that are uninsured or underinsured because there has not been a policy put into place that truly benefits all Americans. Therefore, the future of healthcare is widely unknown.

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One of the most notable accomplishments of President George W. Bush’s time in office was his reform on Medicare through the development of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) in 2003. The MMA provided millions of Americans, especially the elderly, with better access to prescription drugs and a significant reduction in prescription drug costs. In addition to the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, President Bush enacted Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as a health care option for the non-Medicare population. The HSAs, combined with a high-deductible health plan, enable individuals to deposit tax-free funds into an account to pay for their medical expenses (Schaefer & Moffit, 2004). Although there are many other ways that President Bush strengthened America’s health care system, these two are the most recognized and discussed. NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

In 2010, President Barack Obama changed the healthcare system by signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or Affordable Care Act ACA), which is still set in place today. This act requires every American to have health insurance and provides assistance to those who cannot afford a plan, along with reducing the amount families and individuals pay in uncompensated care. Furthermore, under the ACA, young adults can stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26, eliminated out-of-pocket costs for preventative services, and people with preexisting health conditions can no longer be denied coverage (Improving Health for All Americans, n.d.). President Obama also addressed the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic and increased access to mental health services, which are two topics that still need serious attention from the government.

Unfortunately, no major changes or reform in healthcare occurred during the Trump administration, which leaves many people wondering what is next for healthcare in this nation. The only real attempt President Trump made at healthcare reform was trying to implement the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) put into place by President Obama. However, after multiple attempts to pass the AHCA, it crumbled due to strong opposition to its provision and the increasing support for the ACA (Neuman, 2020). Having said this, there were some minor achievements made by President Trump that revolved around healthcare, but nothing that made a detrimental impact on America. NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

Healthcare reform is complicated. Healthcare reform is challenging. Healthcare reform still needs attention and a lot of it. Yet, when it comes to healthcare reform and the contributions made to healthcare by the last three presidents, I honestly have no idea what I would do differently. As important as healthcare politics are, I just have never been that passionate about politics or making my voice known on a political level. Having said that, I am not saying my stance may not change in the times ahead, but as of now I am focused on what I can do for my patients in my current role as a Registered Nurse and in my future role as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I believe that health insurance should be available to all and I believe that healthcare providers should have the best form of health insurance, which we do not. If anything, I feel as though my health insurance has begun to cover less and less, while the price of insurance is continuing to rise. Therefore, I think it is safe to say I anxiously await what the future in healthcare reform holds.

References

Improving Health for All Americans. (n.d.). The White House: President Barack Obama.

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-record/health-care

Neuman , T. (2020, September 30). President Trump’s Record on Health Care – Issue Brief.

KFF. https://www.kff.org/report-section/president-trumps-record-on-health-care-issue-

brief/

Schaefer, N. O., & Moffit, R. (2004, October 12). An Examination of the Bush Health Care

Agenda. The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/health-care-

reform/report/examination-the-bush-health-care-agenda NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

sample post 2

Initial Discussion: Presidential Agendas

Introduction

There are many topics that rise to the presidential level when a president is in office. One topic that is recurrent and a really important topic is healthcare reform and policies. This is a recurrent topic because it is a never ending cycle of what people think is affordable, safe, and effective healthcare. Healthcare and its delivery to Americans is very important. Policies must be put in place by the president and their cabinet. According to Kingdon, when the president and the cabinet utilizes agenda setting, they come in and create opportunities for some advocates and closes windows for others. At these junctures, the advocates join their proposals to the pressing problems, or they push their proposals when the political conditions are right (2001). Every American wants healthcare that they can afford ultimately. When it comes to how to make healthcare affordable to Americans; each president had their own ways of doing things. NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

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President Obama

President Obama had the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in place for Americans. According to Obama, the Affordable Care Act has made significant progress toward solving long-standing challenges facing the US health care system (2016). President Obama felt that this act decreased the percentage of uninsured Americans. “Since the Affordable Care Act became law, the uninsured rate has declined by 43%, from 16.0% in 2010 to 9.1% in 2015, primarily because of the law’s reforms.” (Obama, 2016). While President Obama was in office, the amount of uninsured Americans decreased because of the healthcare policy that he placed.

President Trump

President Trump came into office with a healthcare plan he did not agree with at all. When he came into office, he had plans to undo the healthcare policy that was set in place for Americans.  According to Fentiman, the Trump Administration’s efforts to undo the contraceptive mandate, a key component of the Affordable Care Act which threaten a major public health emergency, as well as the rule of law and separation of powers (n.d). President Trump’s eagerness to rid the Affordable Care Act seemed to cause more issues in healthcare policies than resolving them. President Trump wanted to adjust Medicare Plans to give Americans better coverage but the majority of plans were declined. NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

President Bush

Prior to the Affordable Care Act, President Bush wanted to recreate the healthcare system that the previous president’s had in place. Thompson stated President Bush acknowledged the effort put in place but stated the first step to a new, uniquely American health care system is not to expand coverage (n.d). In creating his healthcare policies, he wanted to not affect certain parts of the population. According to Thompson, in revamping the healthcare system President Bush wanted for the American people; he wanted to establish a system that worked for all those entitled to health care without threatening persons over 65 who have made contributions to the system (2000). President Bush’s plan was to make healthcare equal and fair across the board.

What I Would Do Differently?

Each of these presidents had their own way of thinking and what they believed was best for Americans. After researching the different outcomes of each president’s healthcare policy; if I were to do anything differently it would be to keep what works and modify what doesn’t. I believe if a healthcare system was working for majority of Americans, then I would keep the policy in place. When it comes to socioeconomic status of American’s, some will be insured while others will be underinsured or uninsured. According to Milstead & Short (2019), public uncertainty about personal coverage and methods of financing care are major issues. I do not believe any president can completely resolve all issues of making healthcare affordable to all due to socioeconomic statuses. I believe we just have to hope presidents will put policies in place to improve the issues for the majority. NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

References

Kingdon,J. W. (2001). A model of agenda setting with applications. Law Review M.S.U, -D.C.L., 2(331). https://advance-lexis-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/document/index?crid=9f275731-02cd-4e02-8765-f48fd3c34a97&pdpermalink=9b2f387e-9503-4fed-8a60-f8f029778dfd&pdmfid=1516831&pdisurlapi=true

Obama, B. JD. (2016). United States Health Care Reform Progress to Date and Next Steps. JAMA, 316(5), 525-532. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2533698

Fentiman, L. C. (n.d). Of mosquitoes and “moral convictions” in the age of zika: How the trump administration’s gutting of the affordable care act’s contraceptive mandate jeopardizes women’s and children’s health. Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine, 30(89). https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=ca3bcaef-cc88-4692-a1b5-38e6e53f2707%40pdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=142988434&db=a9h

Thompson, R. (n.d). The Speech on Health Care Policy that President George W. Bush Should Make to Congress. Business Source Complete.https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=559e8ed2-42d3-40f6-87e6-d5f0f2a3ca9f%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=14727566&db=bth

Milstead, J.A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6^th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

sample response

For this week’s discussion board, I chose healthcare reform to talk about as well so I am familiar with aspects that you mentioned in your discussion board. President Bush did want a healthcare system that was not threatening to people over 65, so he established the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. The MMA provided millions of Americans, especially the elderly, with better access to prescription drugs and a significant reduction in prescription drug costs (Schaefer & Moffit, 2004). On top of what you stated President Obama contributed to healthcare reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also eliminated out-of-pocket costs for preventative services, young adults can stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26, and people with preexisting health conditions can no longer be denied coverage (Improving Health for All Americans, n.d.). I agree with you when you say that the presidents can not completely resolve all of the political issues in healthcare and we just have to hope that policies are put in place that benefit the majority of the American population. Great post for the week, keep it up! NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas

References

Improving health for all Americans. (n.d.). The White House: President Barack Obama. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-record/health-care

Shaefer, N. O., & Moffit, R. (2004, October 12). An examination of the Bush healthcare agenda. The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/health-care-refore/report/examination-the-bush-health-care-agenda NURS 6050 week 1 Presidential Agendas