Running head: BENCHMARK-ANALYSIS OF A U.S.

HEALTH CARE POLICY 1

Benchmark - Analysis of a U.S. Health Care Policy

Jenna Smith

Grand Canyon University: NSG-436

July 12th, 2020

BENCHMARK-ANALYSIS OF A U.S. HEALTH CARE POLICY 2

Analysis of a U.S. Health Care Policy

Health care policy helps reform health care issues. The Black Maternal Health Momnibus

Act of 2020 is a bill that addresses the black maternal health crisis in the United States and

serves as a health care policy to help end racial disparities (Harris, 2020). Analyzing this health

care policy involves summarizing the policy, reviewing stakeholders, addressing positive and

negative aspects, identifying factors that impact nursing practice and delivery of care, and

proposing potential change.

Policy Summary

In America, black women face much higher rates of maternal mortality (Martin &

Montage, 2017). The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020 aims to stop preventable

maternal mortality and close disparities through a variety of dimensions (Harris, 2020). For

example, this bill will invest in social determinants of health and community-based organizations

(Harris, 2020). Grants will be given to places that provide bias training and diversify the

perinatal workforce (Harris, 2020). This bill also focuses on underrepresented populations, more

funding for studies to understand the maternal health crisis, and improvements on maternal

mental health (Harris, 2020). Lastly, the bill addresses an increased need for technology in the

maternal health setting and more effective payment models (Harris, 2020).

Policy Stakeholders

Major stakeholders include government and organizational leaders, medical

professionals, and clients. Government leaders influence the policy by implementing changes

into their own branch to meet the guidelines outlined in the act and organizational leaders

implement changes to their organizations to meet grant requirements. For example, in section

201 of the bill, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must issue grants to eligible groups
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that adjust their programs to prevent maternal mortality in black women within one year of

enactment (Harris, 2020). Medical professionals are largely responsible for enforcing the policy.

Once the organization implements policies to enact the guidelines, the medical professionals are

responsible for learning and applying the changes. Clients are the main stakeholder affected by

the policy. If guidelines are properly enforced, equity and client outcomes will be greatly

increased.

Positive and Negative Aspects of Policy

The bill consists of several titles. Title one positively impacts the community by focusing

on improving social determinants that affect maternal health, such as transportation and housing

(Harris, 2020). The community also benefits from sections of the bill that discuss diversifying

workforce, collecting data, increasing technology, and improving payment models (Harris,

2020). These reforms positively impact the community by allowing more people to access up-to-

date maternal care from people of diverse backgrounds. Other titles promote maternal care for

individuals who are incarcerated or veterans (Harris, 2020). This helps previously

underrepresented populations that could benefit from increased funding. Each title includes many

positive ideas to close maternal health disparities, but a negative aspect of title two (section 202)

is the focus on providing grants to programs to reduce bias in maternal care settings (Harris,

2020). While this aspect is positive overall, this section addresses a special consideration for

grants for “undergraduate programs that funnel into medical schools, like biology and pre-

medicine majors” (Harris, 2020, p. 30). Exclusively focusing on medical programs, instead of all

healthcare education programs, is a negative aspect of the policy because proper undergraduate

training for all medical professions is important. This impacts the individual and communities

because an array of healthcare professionals encounter the pregnant and postpartum population.
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Lack of bias training early on during one’s education can affect overall care, creating detrimental

client outcomes.

Factors that Effect Nursing Practice and Delivery of Care

The health care policy includes many factors that impact both nursing practice and

effective and equitable delivery of care. Legislative factors involve laws or legal impact the act

has. Throughout the bill, there are several parts that address actions that must be made once the

policy is enacted. For example, section 104 states that the Secretary of Transportation must

submit a report to Congress within one year of enactment that assesses transportation barriers for

mothers when accessing maternal health care services and resources (Harris, 2020). This impacts

effective and equitable delivery care because it is important to determine barriers so adjustments

can be made to promote fairness. Financial factors within the act include awarding grants to

organizations that reform according to the guidelines. Section 202 addresses special

consideration for grants to programs that provide bias training for all employees that interact

with the maternal population (Harris, 2020). This section impacts both nursing practice and

delivery of care because nurses will be given the knowledge-base and information to provide

care that is free of bias. Section 403 addresses awarding grants to nursing schools to diversify the

perinatal work force. This influences effective and equitable delivery of care by nurses because

diversification allows clients to have health care professionals that understand their mindset and

culture (“The importance of diversity in health care: Medical professionals weigh in”, 2018). The

various secretaries of government that award grants to programs serve as regulatory powers. For

instance, stated in section 403, the Secretary of Human Health and Services must receive an

annual report from schools that received the grant (Harris, 2020). This influences nursing

practice and delivery of care because it proves to the secretary that the school is using the grant
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for its intended purpose, diversification of the nursing workforce. Legislative, financial, and

regulatory factors within the bills influence both nursing practice and effective and equitable

delivery of care.

Proposed Change to Policy

The proposed change to the policy addresses section 202 of the bill that discusses grants

for programs to reduce racism, discrimination, and bias. While the bill discusses special

considerations for grants for programs that funnel into medical schools, the bill does not address

the need for such bias training in nursing programs. In a study published in 2016, medical

students reported the false belief that black people experience pain differently than white people

and treatment recommendation were also less accurate (Hoffman, Trawalter, Axt, & Oliver,

2016). The results of this study correlate with current racial disparities involving assessment and

treatment. Considering a major role of nurses is assessment, it is important for nursing programs

to dedicate curriculum on bias. This being said, the proposed change to the policy is to give

special consideration for grants to nursing programs to provide training specified in section 202

of the bill. Nursing programs that already implement curriculum regarding bias and racism

should be redesigned to fit programs made by Historically Black Colleges and Universities

(HBCUs). This change in policy ensures equity and positive client outcomes by promoting

accurate education regarding minority groups, giving nurses a better knowledge-base to provide

complete and fair care.

Conclusion

The Black Maternal Momnibus Act of 2020 is a major step in improving current maternal

racial disparities. By covering different factors that can potentially affect maternal mortality in

black and other minority populations, this health care policy targets root causes for the maternal
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health crisis. Implementing the proposed change promotes education for the health care

profession, nursing, that work most closely with the pregnant population.
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References

Harris, K. (2020). S. 3424: Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020. Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s3424/text

Hoffman, K., Trawalter, S., Axt, J., & Oliver, M. (2016). Racial bias in pain assessment and

treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks

and whites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(16), 4296-4301.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1516047113

Martin, N. & Montagne, R. (2017). Black mothers keep dying after giving birth. Shalon Irving's

story explains why. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/12/07/568948782/black-

mothers-keep-dying-after-giving-birth-shalon-irvings-story-explains-why

The importance of diversity in health care: Medical professionals weigh in. (2018). Retrieved

from https://www.sgu.edu/blog/medical/pros-discuss-the-importance-of-diversity-in-

health-care/