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    Application: Health Care Reform Advocacy
  
    
  Public policies that influence broad groups of people over broad areas of the country, can be initiated at the executive branch of government, designed through legislative action, and crafted through the judicial branch. It is important to keep in mind that what goes on at the national or state level ultimately influences what occurs at the institutional level, directly influencing what health care professionals and their organizations can do. In this Application Assignment, you are encouraged to be a champion of positive social change by being a positive component of the legislative process.

To prepare for this Application Assignment:

• Select a health care issue about which you would like to influence a change.
• Scan state and federal government sites to find links to health care legislation. Sites are also available that specialize in tracking bills in progress.
• Identify two or three Web sites that provide credible information on this issue.
• Research within these sites what has been proposed or enacted at local, state, and federal levels in the past to address this issue.
• Research the positions of special interest groups.

To complete this Application Assignment, write a persuasive e-mail or letter to your state or national member of the legislator.

• Explain why you believe this issue is important and how it could be addressed through policy.
• Describe the potential impact of your proposed changes on health care consumers and/or health services organizations.

Submit the following:

• A copy of the letter or e-mail you have written, as indicated above. (You will not be required to send the letter or e-mail; however, as part Walden University’s social change mission you are encouraged to personally take a stand to improve your community.)
• A 1-page summary of the process you conducted to gather information for the letter. Include the addresses of the credible Web resources you used, how you obtained the contact information of the recipient of your letter, and why the topic of the letter is important to you.

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct.

Required Resources

Media

• Video: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2009). Five questions with TFAH’s Jeff Levi. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2009/07/rwjf-five-questions-with-tfahs-jeff-levi.html

This video presentation includes an interview with Dr. Jeffrey Levi, Executive Director of Trust For America’s Health, discussing benefits of paying for preventive care.

Readings

• Course Text: Jonas & Kovner’s Health Care Delivery in the United States
• • Chapter 2, “Health Policy and Health Reform”

  This chapter describes the roles of the federal, state, and local governments in the U.S. health care system and examines the key issues of health care policy reform.

  • Chapter 8, “Access to Care”

  Chapter 8 identifies economic and noneconomic barriers to health care. This chapter also analyzes how these barriers impinge on health and affect the health care delivery system.

• Article: Larkin, H. D. (2009, May). Mass. Appeal? H&HN: Hospitals & Health Networks, 83(5), 26-29. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=40829106&site=ehost-live&scope=site

  Massachusetts was one of the first states to enact substantial health care reform. This article provides an overview of the reform measures and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures.

• Article: Bernstein, J. (2009). Issue brief: Public perspectives on health delivery systems reforms. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/research-publications/find-rwjf-research/2009/01/public-perspectives-on-health-delivery-system-reforms.html

This article provides an overview of critical issues in health care that are in need of reform.

Web Sites

• HealthCare.gov
  http://www.healthcare.gov/

The federal government has developed this Web site to provide current information concerning health care reform measures.

 

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Policy
  http://www.rwjf.org/en/topics/rwjf-topic-areas/health-policy.html