Assignment: Legislation  Grid

Assignment: Legislation  Grid

Assignment: Legislation  Grid

Maternal healthcare is one of the determinants of the quality, safety and efficiency of health in a state. The US is one of the most developed countries in the world. It is therefore expected to have the lowest maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the world. However, statistics show that the rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in the US are significantly high. Consequently, this paper explores a proposed policy that aims at reducing the current rates and trends in maternal mortality and morbidity in the USA.

Health-related Bill Name	Recognizing The Maternal Health Crisis In The United States And The Importance Of Reducing Mortality And Morbidity Among All Women And Honoring Mothers
Bill Number	H.Res.539
Description	Maternal mortality and morbidity is a critical issue affecting the United States of America. The statistics presented in the bill shows that despite being a developed nation, America has the highest rate of maternal mortality and morbidity. The statistics also show that the risk for maternal mortality and morbidity is significantly elevated among women from ethnic minority groups when compared to the American natives. Women also experience challenges in their maternal care such as mistreatment that degrade their self-identity and autonomy. Based on the above maternal health-related issues, the Recognizing The Maternal Health Crisis In The United States And The Importance Of Reducing Mortality And Morbidity Among All Women And Honoring Mothers Act was proposed for implementation. The act seeks to address the issue by focusing on a number of aspects related to maternal health. Firstly, it seeks to raise the awareness of the public about maternal morbidity, mortality and the existence of disparities in maternal health-related outcomes. The bill also seeks to encourage states, Federal Government, territories, local communications and healthcare organizations among other stakeholders to take interventions that reduce the risk and rate of adverse maternal health outcomes as well as improve maternal safety. The other aims of the act include addressing and eliminating disparities in maternal health outcomes, ensuring the provision of equitable and respectively maternal care, honoring mothers who have died due to pregnancy-related complications, and supporting the collection of data on maternal morbidity and mortality. It also supports the need for further investment efforts to enhance maternal health and health outcomes as well as eliminate disparities in maternal healthcare.
Federal or State?	Federal
Legislative Intent	The legislative intent of the act is to recognize the seriousness of maternal morbidity and mortality issues in the US. The act also seeks to raise the awareness of the public and other stakeholders on the need to prevent maternal morbidity and mortality. Further, the act aims at ensuring the disparities in outcomes of maternal health are eliminated. Lastly, it aims at ensuring that mothers and pregnant women receive respectful care that meets their health needs.
Proponents/ Opponents	Proponents: They include Reps. Underwood Lauren, Kelly Robin, Spanberger Abigail Davis, Wexton Jennifer, and Adams Alma.
	Opponents: none
Target Population	The primary beneficiaries of the proposed bill are pregnant women and mothers. It also includes women from ethnic minorities. The secondary target population includes healthcare providers, policymakers, and communities.
Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?)	The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
General Notes/Comments	The proposed bill is a crucial bill that should be adopted in the US. The need for the bill is attributed to the high rate of maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the USA. Its implementation would therefore support the provision of care that addresses the needs of pregnant women and mothers from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Advocacy Statement

Maternal mortality and morbidity is a critical issue in the US despite it being a developed nation (Collier & Molina, 2019; Joseph et al., 2021). For example, statistics show that 60% of the maternal mortalities reported in the US are preventable. In addition, the risk of women of ethnic minority groups such as African American and American Indians dying from pregnancy related complications is three times that of the White women. Women also experience different forms of mistreatment, as they receive their needed maternal healthcare (Morton et al., 2019). Therefore, the proposed bill should be adopted in the USA to address the identified issues. The bill will increase the maternal health outcomes as well as the quality of care mothers and pregnant women receive (Congress.gov, 2021). Through the bill, the USA will rank among the world’s leading nations with lowest maternal mortality and morbidity rates. I will address the opponents in my position by presenting facts above the severity of the issue of maternal mortalities and morbidities in the US. I will also provide the socioeconomic implications of maternal mortalities and morbidities to the state. For example, I will explore the cost implications of the issue to the American economy and families.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid Conclusion

The US currently has a high rate of maternal mortality and morbidity. Significant disparities exist in maternal health outcomes due to ethnicity of the mothers and pregnant women. The proposed bill is important in ensuring equity in maternal healthcare and adoption of best practices to reduce and prevent maternal mortalities and morbidities. Therefore, it should be implemented to promote public health.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid References

Collier, A. Y., & Molina, R. L. (2019). Maternal Mortality in the United States: Updates on Trends, Causes, and Solutions. NeoReviews, 20(10), e561–e574. https://doi.org/10.1542/neo.20-10-e561

Morton, C. H., VanOtterloo, L. R., Seacrist, M. J., & Main, E. K. (2019). Translating Maternal Mortality Review Into Quality Improvement Opportunities in Response to Pregnancy-Related Deaths in California. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 48(3), 252–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2019.03.003

Joseph, K. S., Boutin, A., Lisonkova, S., Muraca, G. M., Razaz, N., John, S., … & Schisterman, E. (2021). Maternal Mortality in the United States: Recent Trends, Current Status, and Future Considerations. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 137(5), 763. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004361

Congress.gov. (2021, July 19). Text – H.Res.539 – 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recognizing the maternal health crisis in the United States and the importance of reducing mortality and morbidity among all women, and honoring mothers. (2021/2022) [Legislation]. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/539/text

Legislation Grid Template

Nurses experience events and situations that motivate them to assume the advocacy role in hopes of influencing policies, regulations, and laws related to healthcare and care provision. To do so, they have to enter into the less familiar political and policy making spheres to demonstrate their interests by evaluating proposed bills and their overall effects on the target health populations, the nursing profession and the healthcare industry at large. The purpose of this assignment is to review a selected health-related bill that has been proposed in Congress and complete the Legislation Grid Template to determine its intent, proponents and opponents, the target population and issue an advocacy statement or testimony.

Click here to ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:  Assignment: Legislation  Grid

Health-related Bill Name	Mobile Health Record Act of 2019
Bill Number	H.R.1390
Description	Mobile Health Record Act of 2019 was introduced in the house on February 27, 2019 and was sponsored by Susan Brook, the house representative from the fifth Congressional District in Indiana. The bill’s co-sponsors include Yvettte Clarke the New York representative of 9th Congressional District, Levine Mike from California, Schweikert David from Arizona and Gottheimer Josh from New Jersey.The proposal mandates the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a program, which ensures Medicare enrollees link their data using reliable applications, services and research initiative. The bill also requires enrollees to access information using a mobile health record application of their choice and one that is approved by the CMS and meets the specified requirements. The CMS must make such information accessible to such applications as stipulated by the current Blue Button 2.0 program. The proposed legislation also mandates federal payments to states that opt to develop or purchase similar applications for the enrollees.
Federal or State?	Federal
Legislative Intent	The legislative intends to change the Social Security Act with the aim of offering benefits from part A or part B of the Medicare programs. These include individuals who enroll in state programs under Medicaid. The bill will empower the beneficiaries to access personal medical data that comprises of prescribed medicines, their diagnoses, providers and tests through the use of their selected mobile health records applications.
Proponents/ Opponents	Proponents:Proponents of the bill include the representatives introducing and supporting it, healthcare providers like nurses and physicians, software development companies and startups, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
	Opponents: Opponents may include insurance companies that have always had the monopoly to offer consultancy services to the beneficiaries.
Target Population	Medicare and Medicaid Enrollees
Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?)	The sponsor introduced the bill in Congress in 2019. The bill went to the respective Committee on Energy and Commerce. The bill is currently in the Committee of Ways and Means’ subcommittee on Health. Lastly, while the bill has received substantial amount of coverage, it is still new and at the committee stage.
General Notes/Comments	The need to expand access to health care, especially for older Americans and individuals with chronic conditions, is essential as the country continues to battle pandemics like the Coronavirus disease of 2020. The use of health information technology models like mobile health expands access, particularly to underserved and susceptible populations. Therefore, the bill seeks to enhance access to information and allow individuals to have effective management and involvement in their health decisions (Bouayad et al., 2017). By allowing Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries to access personal health information through mobile applications, the bill expands care and individual autonomy to make decisions.

Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Access to healthcare remains one of the primary goals of various administrations, especially at a time when the country and the world are dealing with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant. Healthcare costs continue to rise, particularly for low-income families and racial and ethnic minorities. Implementing various interventions, such as the Mobile Health Records Act of 2019, will ensure that these people have access to healthcare at an affordable cost. The bill focuses on improving individual access to care information through the use of novel technology. Dameff et al. (2019) argue in their study that the use of mobile health records platforms can improve health delivery and outcomes. The authors stress the importance of adopting health information technology models to improve overall care delivery, particularly access to personal health records.

Priority one for this strategy should be to see if it can enhance outcomes for patients while also keeping costs down and service standards high (Snezana et al., 2020). Electronic health records and the expansion of Internet platforms and smart technologies have resulted in a smooth flow of crucial clinical information among care organizations and healthcare practitioners (Harahap et al., 2021). Patients will be more involved in making decisions about their treatment plans and actions if they are able to achieve the same level of personal empowerment.

Using this method, people will be better equipped to make well-informed decisions about their healthcare needs. Since these applications have not been proved to improve access and quality, opposition to this legislation is inevitable (Niazkhani et al., 2020). Looking at the effectiveness of models like electronic health records, telehealth, and telemedicine as well as artificial intelligence in healthcare can help solve such positions.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid Conclusion

The Mobile Health Records Act of 2019 is a mobile version of EHRs and should be passed and enacted into law to enhance access to care and reduce the overall costs. The use of such technologies will also enhance patients’ participation in their treatment plans and interventions and allow them to make better informed choices and decisions.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid References

Bouayad, L., Ialynytchev, A., & Padmanabhan, B. (2017). Patient health record

systems scope and functionalities: Literature review and future directions. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(11), e388.

doi: 10.2196/jmir.8073.

Congress.GOV. (2021). H.R.1390 – Mobile Health Record Act of 2019.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1390/committees

Dameff, C., Clay, B., Longhurst, C. A. (2019). Personal Health Records: More

Promising in the Smartphone Era? JAMA, 321(4):339-340.

doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.20434.

Harahap, N. C., Handayani, P. W., & Hidayanto, A. N. (2021). Functionalities and

issues in the implementation of personal health records: Systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(7), e26236.

doi: 10.2196/26236

Niazkhani, Z., Toni, E., Cheshmekaboodi, M., Georgiou, A., & Pirnejad, H.

(2020). Barriers to patient, provider, and caregiver adoption and use of electronic personal health records in chronic care: a systematic review. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 20(1), 1-36.

doi: 10.1186/s12911-020-01159-1

Snezana, S., Kilintzis, V., Jakimovski, B., Jolevski, I., Beredimas, N., Mourouzis,

A., … & Trajkovik, V. (2020, September). Cloud Based Personal Health Records Data Exchange in the Age of IoT: The Cross4all Project. In International Conference on ICT Innovations (pp. 28-41). Springer, Cham.

Many nurses encounter daily experiences that motivate them to take on an advocacy role in hopes of impacting policies, laws, or regulations that impact healthcare issues of interest. Of course, doing so means entering the less familiar world of policy and politics. While many nurses do not initially feel prepared to operate in this space effectively, the reward is the opportunity to shape and influence future health policy.

Click here to ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:  Assignment: Legislation  Grid

Nurses experience events and situations that motivate them to assume the advocacy role in hopes of influencing policies, regulations, and laws related to healthcare and care provision. To do so, they have to enter into the less familiar political and policy making spheres to demonstrate their interests by evaluating proposed bills and their overall effects on the target health populations, the nursing profession and the healthcare industry at large. The purpose of this assignment is to review a selected health-related bill that has been proposed in Congress and complete the Legislation Grid Template to determine its intent, proponents and opponents, the target population and issue an advocacy statement or testimony.

Health-related Bill Name	Mobile Health Record Act of 2019
Bill Number	H.R.1390
Description	Mobile Health Record Act of 2019 was introduced in the house on February 27, 2019 and was sponsored by Susan Brook, the house representative from the fifth Congressional District in Indiana. The bill’s co-sponsors include Yvettte Clarke the New York representative of 9th Congressional District, Levine Mike from California, Schweikert David from Arizona and Gottheimer Josh from New Jersey.The proposal mandates the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a program, which ensures Medicare enrollees link their data using reliable applications, services and research initiative. The bill also requires enrollees to access information using a mobile health record application of their choice and one that is approved by the CMS and meets the specified requirements. The CMS must make such information accessible to such applications as stipulated by the current Blue Button 2.0 program. The proposed legislation also mandates federal payments to states that opt to develop or purchase similar applications for the enrollees.
Federal or State?	Federal
Legislative Intent	The legislative intends to change the Social Security Act with the aim of offering benefits from part A or part B of the Medicare programs. These include individuals who enroll in state programs under Medicaid. The bill will empower the beneficiaries to access personal medical data that comprises of prescribed medicines, their diagnoses, providers and tests through the use of their selected mobile health records applications.
Proponents/ Opponents	Proponents:Proponents of the bill include the representatives introducing and supporting it, healthcare providers like nurses and physicians, software development companies and startups, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
	Opponents: Opponents may include insurance companies that have always had the monopoly to offer consultancy services to the beneficiaries.
Target Population	Medicare and Medicaid Enrollees
Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?)	The sponsor introduced the bill in Congress in 2019. The bill went to the respective Committee on Energy and Commerce. The bill is currently in the Committee of Ways and Means’ subcommittee on Health. Lastly, while the bill has received substantial amount of coverage, it is still new and at the committee stage.
General Notes/Comments	The need to expand access to health care, especially for older Americans and individuals with chronic conditions, is essential as the country continues to battle pandemics like the Coronavirus disease of 2020. The use of health information technology models like mobile health expands access, particularly to underserved and susceptible populations. Therefore, the bill seeks to enhance access to information and allow individuals to have effective management and involvement in their health decisions (Bouayad et al., 2017). By allowing Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries to access personal health information through mobile applications, the bill expands care and individual autonomy to make decisions.

Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Access to healthcare remains one of the fundamental goals of different administrations, particularly at this time when the country and the world are battling a resurgence in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant. The cost of healthcare continues to rise, particularly for those from low-income households and neighborhood and racial minorities. Initiating different interventions such as the introduction of Mobile Health Records Act of 2019 will ensure that these people can access healthcare at affordable cost. The bill focuses on improving access to care information at an individual level by using novel technology. In their study, Dameff et al. (2019) advance that the deployment of mobile health records platforms can enhance health delivery and outcomes. The authors emphasize the need to embrace health information technology models to enhance overall care delivery, particularly access to personal health records.

The main concern should be on whether the model through the provision of access to personal health information can improve care outcomes at the minimal cost while maintaining the quality of care service (Snezana et al., 2020). It is essential to know that the advent of electronic health records and expanded use of Internet platforms and smart technologies have led to seamless flow of critical clinical information among care organizations and providers (Harahap et al., 2021). Imperatively, if the same can be attained at a personal level, it will enhance patient involvement in decision making concerning their care plans and interventions.

The approach will also enhance individuals’ ability to make informed choices concerning the use of healthcare services. Opposition to this Act can only arise due to unproven status of such applications in improving access and quality of care (Niazkhani et al., 2020). Such positions can be addressed by looking at the success of models like the electronic health records, the use of telehealth and telemedicine, and even artificial intelligence in care provision and reducing the cost of healthcare.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid Conclusion

The Mobile Health Records Act of 2019 is a mobile version of EHRs and should be passed and enacted into law to enhance access to care and reduce the overall costs. The use of such technologies will also enhance patients’ participation in their treatment plans and interventions and allow them to make better informed choices and decisions.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid References

Bouayad, L., Ialynytchev, A., & Padmanabhan, B. (2017). Patient health record

systems scope and functionalities: Literature review and future directions. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(11), e388.

doi: 10.2196/jmir.8073.

Congress.GOV. (2021). H.R.1390 – Mobile Health Record Act of 2019.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1390/committees

Dameff, C., Clay, B., Longhurst, C. A. (2019). Personal Health Records: More

Promising in the Smartphone Era? JAMA, 321(4):339-340.

doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.20434.

Harahap, N. C., Handayani, P. W., & Hidayanto, A. N. (2021). Functionalities and

issues in the implementation of personal health records: Systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(7), e26236.

doi: 10.2196/26236

Niazkhani, Z., Toni, E., Cheshmekaboodi, M., Georgiou, A., & Pirnejad, H.

(2020). Barriers to patient, provider, and caregiver adoption and use of electronic personal health records in chronic care: a systematic review. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 20(1), 1-36.

doi: 10.1186/s12911-020-01159-1

Snezana, S., Kilintzis, V., Jakimovski, B., Jolevski, I., Beredimas, N., Mourouzis,

A., … & Trajkovik, V. (2020, September). Cloud Based Personal Health Records Data Exchange in the Age of IoT: The Cross4all Project. In International Conference on ICT Innovations (pp. 28-41). Springer, Cham.

As a nurse, how often have you thought to yourself, If I had anything to do about it, things would work a little differently? Increasingly, nurses are beginning to realize that they do, in fact, have a role and a voice.

The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Comparison Grid; 1- to 2-page Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement)

Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Based on the health-related bill you selected, develop a 1- to 2-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.

Describe how you would address the opponent to your position. Be specific and provide examples.

Recommend at least one amendment to the bill in support of your position.

Legislation Grid Template

Use this document to complete Part 1 of the Module 2 Assessment Legislation Grid and

Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Health-related Bill Name
Helping Health Care Workers Afford Child and Elderly Care Act
Bill Number S.3567
Description Healthcare providers have an essential role to play in the provision of care to the diverse populations. In doing this, they also have the responsibility to ensure that they address the healthcare needs of those who depend on them. In specific, the healthcare providers should be able to afford the care that their children and elderly parents need. This implies that there is a need for a legislation that provides the healthcare givers with the financial support that they need in ensuring that the health needs of their children and elderly parents are met (Crawshaw et al., 2020). Therefore, the Helping Health Care Workers Afford Child and Elder Care Act has been proposed to achieve this outcome.

Federal or State? The bill is a state bill. It seeks to ensure that all the states adopt the bill to ensure that healthcare providers can afford the care that their children and elderly need. The bill aims to enhance the affordability, accessibility, and availability of the care that those dependent on healthcare providers need.

Legislative Intent

Only the most critical workers in the state are targeted by the Helping Healthcare Workers Afford Child and Elder Care Act. The bill defines “essential workers” as health-care professionals, sanitation workers, workers who cannot telework, emergency responders, and employees of firms that must remain open during public emergencies as examples of “essential workers.” According to the measure, additional financing is needed to accomplish the program’s stated goals. In fiscal year 2020, each state must set aside $500,000. A portion of the funding will be utilized to cover the costs of child care, daytime care, and adult protective services for household members or dependents of important workers who need healthcare services. Depending on the essential workers, monies will be used to reimburse for the costs of obtaining services, such as emergency services and child care, for the young and elderly. Only those who are unable to provide for themselves are eligible for the cash (Shaheen, 2020).

Opponents and supporters Proponents: The bill currently has the support of five senators. Baldwin Tammy, Hassan Margaret Wood, Harris Kamala, Reed Jack, and Durbin Richard are among the senators who will be participating. According to the bill’s supporters, the bill will help the dependents of health care workers get the care they need. By passing this legislation the sickness will be made easier on healthcare staff as well. As a result, health care professionals may rest easy knowing that the state would back them up when it comes to issues harming their loved ones.

Currently, there are no opponents to the bill’s implementation. It is expected that the law would be opposed by arguments that existing health legislation such as the Affordable Care Act serve the needs of elderly and children in different states. The bill may also attract opposition because of the present large wage bill in many states.

People Who Fall Within This Group Children and the elderly, both of whom are heavily reliant on vital workers, are the primary focus of this legislation.

What is the current state of the legislation? There is now a hearing on the bill.

Remarks of a General Nature

It is critical that the Health Care Workers Afford Child and Elder Care Act be passed by all 50 states. The bill’s passing means that workers who are absolutely necessary will have their health care demands reduced. Those who play a crucial part in the general population’s health and well-being have a significant impact. Care for persons in need can be offered at a high level based on their current and future human requirements. Health care costs for dependents of high-ranking employees will be covered by public aid as part of this new policy. Workers in the medical field should be expected to be motivated to improve the health and well-being of their patients. It is vital, according to Niles (2019), that lawmakers meet the critical needs of healthcare providers in order to motivate them to provide care to others. The bill’s goal is to encourage doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers to provide their patients with cutting-edge, evidence-based care (Milstead, 2019; Olusegun & Tinuke, 2020). As a result, I support its introduction at the state level to assist healthcare providers’ families. For those who criticize my position, I intend to highlight the importance of healthcare workers to our nation. Using Covid19 as an example, I will demonstrate how the legislation is important to meet the expectations of these critical workers.. I intend to use HR concepts, such as employee development, in my interactions with people opposed to the legislation. Workers in the health care industry will be more driven to give excellent service if the law is adopted. Everyone’s health and well-being will benefit as a result. As a last point, I’d want to point out studies and countries that have already implemented comparable policies.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid References

Crawshaw, J., Budhwar, P., & Davis, A. (2020). Human Resource Management: Strategic and International Perspectives. SAGE.
Milstead, J. A. (2019). Health Policy and Politics: A Nurse’s Guide. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Niles, N. J. (2019). Basic Concepts of Health Care Human Resource Management. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Olusegun, A., Sulaiman, & Tinuke, F. (2020). Human Resource Management Practices for Promoting Sustainability. IGI Global.
Shaheen, J. (2020, March 22). S.3567 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): Helping Health Care Workers Afford Child and Elder Care Act (2019/2020) [Webpage]. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3567

Part 1: Legislation Comparison Grid

Based on the health-related bill you selected, complete the Legislation Comparison 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?

Is it receiving press coverage?

Module 2: Legislation (Weeks 3-4)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Legislation [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Introduction to Health Policy and Law with Joel Teitelbaum [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Credit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Contemporary Issues in Public Health Policy with Joel Teitelbaum [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Peter Beilenson: Population Health [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Regardless of geographical location, race, culture, and other factors, all populations deserve quality, timely, and affordable health. Besides, health care providers and stakeholders should devise interventions for health promotion and the protection of vulnerable communities. Health care policies are instrumental in health promotion since they outline guidelines for benefitting patients, communities, and health care providers (Wolstenholme & McKelvie, 2019). As a result, Congress and other law-making bodies formulate health promotion bills to advance health in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recently-proposed health-related bill and an advocacy statement supporting its legislation

Part 1: Legislation Grid

Health-related Bill Name	End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022
Bill Number	H.R. 8654 (Congress.gov, 2022).
Description	End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022 underlines that the United States foreign assistance program has an obligation to end global tuberculosis (TB) pandemic through multifaceted interventions, including actions that support TB diagnosis and treatment among all adults and children and prevent new infections (Congress.gov, 2022; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2022). The bill also outlines the objectives and goals of TB-related policy, such as appropriate funding of comprehensive person-centered programs, capacity building among populations where the TB burden is high, and direct support to at-risk and impoverished populations.
Federal or State?	Federal
Legislative Intent	The bill’s intent is to prevent, cure, and treat tuberculosis globally. Besides, the bill ensures that at-risk populations are identified and get appropriate support.
Proponents/ Opponents	Proponents: Representative Ami Bera (Congress.gov, 2022).
	Opponents: no opponent has been noted
Target Population	All adults and children with all forms of Tuberculosis and at-risk populations in the United States (Congress.gov, 2022; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2022).
Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?)	The bill is in the committees stage (House- Foreign Affairs)
General Notes/Comments	The bill focuses on a critical population health matter that deserves maximum attention from individuals, communities, health care providers, and governments. Generally, optimal health outcomes can only be achieved by protecting populations from infections, supporting health promotion programs, and identifying vulnerable populations. Since the bill will be instrumental in ending the TB pandemic and reducing health care costs, quick implementation is crucial. The federal government should also ensure that the United States foreign assistance program has adequate funding to achieve the health care goals outlined in the bill.

Part 2: Legislative Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Healthy populations are critical for a nation’s productivity and progressive economic well-being. The End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022 will be instrumental to people’s health and well-being and should be quickly implemented. It will be crucial to health and well-being since it promotes preventive health, which helps to reduce deaths, disability, and health inequities (Franklin & Sleet, 2018). Besides, the bill applies a global approach to achieve internal health outcomes since it will advance measures for protecting Americans from foreign TB infections. Such an approach will further help the nation to achieve Healthy People 2030 goals.

TB rates vary with populations’ characteristics. Social determinants of income affect the legislation of the End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022 since the variance in TB rates necessitates intervention programs specific to a population’s needs. Health research demonstrates a close link between TB and poverty since TB infections are high in low-income areas (Abou Jaoude et al., 2022). People living in low-income areas are likely to live in poorly ventilated and overcrowded conditions that are ideal for the spreading of TB bacteria. The rates of malnutrition and diseases such as HIV/AIDS are also high in low-income areas and increase TB resistance (Balinda et al., 2019). Such income-related outcomes necessitate adjustments in intervention measures since a universal approach cannot be used to promote health in populations with varying needs, vulnerabilities, and cultural practices.

Opponents should understand the implications of TB on populations, health care spending, and the progressive economic well-being of the nation. The best way to address them is through research and health statistics demonstrating the link between TB and adverse health outcomes. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) reported that TB is the leading infectious disease in the world and claims approximately 1.5 million lives annually. As a result, multifaceted health promotion programs are vital. Abou Jaoude et al. (2022) stated that Stop TB Partnerships and health promotion programs have helped to reduce TB spending. Similar measures underlined in the End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022 should be intensified to protect general and vulnerable populations.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid Conclusion

Health care bills advance health through more funding, advocacy, and the protection of special populations, among other strategies. Implementing the End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022 will be instrumental in attaining healthy and productive populations. As a result, quick implementation of the bill is essential and more support from legislators is needed as well. The government should also supplement such interventions with other health promotion programs, particularly in vulnerable communities where TB rates are high.

Assignment: Legislation  Grid References

Abou Jaoude, G. J., Baena, I. G., Nguhiu, P., Siroka, A., Palmer, T., Goscé, L., … & Haghparast-Bidgoli, H. (2022). National tuberculosis spending efficiency and its associated factors in 121 low-income and middle-income countries, 2010–19: a data envelopment and stochastic frontier analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 10(5), e649-e660. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00085-7

Balinda, I. G., Sugrue, D. D., & Ivers, L. C. (2019). More than malnutrition: a review of the relationship between food insecurity and tuberculosis. Open forum infectious diseases, 6(4), ofz102. https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofz102

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Tuberculosis. https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/newsroom/topics/tb/index.html

Congress.gov. (2022). H.R. 8654– End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2022. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8654

Franklin, R. C., & Sleet, D. A. (2018). Injury prevention and health promotion: A global perspective. Health Promotion Journal of Australia: Official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals, 29(2), 113–116. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.191

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2022). U.S. global health legislation tracker. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fact-sheet/u-s-global-health-legislation-tracker/

Wolstenholme, E., & McKelvie, D. (2019).The dynamics of care: Understanding people flows in health and social care. Springer.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

An Introduction to Health Policy and Law Program Transcript

JOEL TEITELBAUM: Politics plays a huge role in the development and implementation of health policy.

NARRATOR: Joel Teitelbaum is the associate professor and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University. He’s also the school’s director of the Hirsch Health Law and Policy program. Professor Teitelbaum co-authored The Essentials of Health Policy and Law for students studying law and policy as a component of their public health studies.

As a university professor and an academic lawyer, Joel has influenced health policy and the policymaking process.

JOEL TEITELBAUM: Two of the three branches of government are by intent by design political. So the executive branch and the legislative branch, the two branches of government that are tasked with designing and implementing health policy and laws, are by their design political, because we elect them. They’re imbued with power as a result of federal and state elections.

So you from that starting point, you have to understand that anything that goes in the policy making and the legal process is going to be political. The Affordable Care Act, for example, passed without any Republicans signatures. And you can see, after it was passed and it’s being implemented that fully half of the states, most of them led by either Republican governors or legislatures, are actively challenging or ignoring the law.

So it’s clear that obviously politics is playing a very important role in both the design at the outset and now the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Over the past century or so, there have been many examples of important health policies that have really changed the delivery of public health services in this country. I think a good starting point is with the Public Health Service Act in 1944, which at that point consolidated a lot of the health policies that were in existence and greatly expanded the role of the Public Health Service.

From there, you can look to the 1960s when we had the passage of Medicare and Medicaid, which of course gave health insurance and really did a lot to improve the public health for the elderly and for the disadvantaged and poor. The Community Health Center program, which has really influenced public health, was passed in 1965, was when the first health center opened.

From there, you can look at the Affordable Care Act of course in 2010. I think the Affordable Care Act has very much influenced the notion of health care as either a right or a privilege. I think it has taken us further away from the idea of healthcare as a privilege and closer to the idea of health care as a right. Now, the way that the Affordable Care Act mainly did this was through the creation and the regulation of new health insurance markets.

And there is clearly not a one to one correlation between having health insurance and health care as a right, because even with health insurance, there’s no guarantee that someone will get quality health care or any health care at all if they can’t access it. But I do you think that the Affordable Care Act has played a large role in helping the country move toward understanding that what it means to have an equitable and fair health care system means having access to insurance which then in many cases will then lead you to health care access.

Even after implementation of the Affordable Care Act, there’s going to be 10s of millions of people without insurance. So the idea that we’re somehow close even to universal insurance leading towards a right is still pretty far away. My experience in influencing health policy I think I can talk about in two different ways.

The first is what I have learned about what it means to be a health policy advocate or influential health policy maker or someone who can help influence the design of health policy. Broadly speaking, I think you have to have a lot of stamina, you have to be a very good team player understand that no one individual given the multifaceted nature of health policy making can have as great an influence as they can if they’re working with, say, lawyers and economists and others. I think you have to have a fertile political environment, because again, as we’ve seen, something like the Affordable Care Act barely even passed even though it is something we’ve been working toward for many, many decades in this country.

In terms of my own experience, my role in thinking about health policy and law and the research and teaching and writing that I’ve done has spanned several topical areas. I started off working on behavioral health care issues in law and policy– so substance abuse and mental health issues. That transformed into work around managed care law and policy, which then morphed into an interest that I brought the job which was health care civil rights, and after that into health care reform and implementation.

So along the way, I’ve been able I think to influence health policy in each one of those areas through articles, through presentations, I’ve testified before the DC council, I’ve written testimony for Congress. So there have been a lot of different ways I think as a university professor and as an academic lawyer that I’ve been able to influence the policy making process.

So what are some of the pearls and pitfalls of writing a health policy analysis? I’ll give you a handful. The first one is that you should not go into the writing a policy analysis with an outcome in mind. You’ve got to be open minded and be able to really take a look at what the data says, what the literature says, and be thinking creatively about what all the various options are, as opposed to going in with one outcome in mind.

The second thing is that the advice that you give, the final recommendation that you make to the policymaker, whoever that may be, has to be within that policymaker’s power to achieve. There’s no point in giving advice that there is no either political environment for or is within the power of the policymaker to actually carry out. Another one is that you have to address all sides of a policy issue.

When you’re writing a policy analysis, it’s not enough to look at two or three, even if they’re good, options. You have to address all sides of the issue. Otherwise, the policymaker won’t really be able to make an informed decision. You can’t be giving superficial advise. As the policy analyst, as the writer of a policy analysis, you have to be very well informed, oftentimes better informed than the policymaker him or herself.

It’s you they’re going to be relying on. And you have to be incredibly informed. So the giving of superficial advice is really something that you shouldn’t do in crafting a policy analysis. Oftentimes students forget in writing a policy analysis that giving the recommendation to do nothing is an option. In fact, it is an option.

So when what you’re doing is considering a policy question and thinking about what the options are, sometimes doing nothing, leaving things as they are, the status quo, is the best thing to do. A lot of times, students believe that they need to recommend a change just for change sake. I don’t think that’s always the best advice.

An Introduction to Health Policy and Law Additional Content Attribution

Teitelbaum, J.B., & Wilensky, S.E. (2013). Essentials of Health Policy and Law

(2nd Ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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