Healthcare Policy

Names

Institution
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Healthcare Policy

The objectives of healthcare policy include reducing the cost of healthcare services and

improving their quality and accessibility. In short, they influence the overall health. The rapidly

increasing cost of healthcare has caused increasing strain on the disposable income of

consumers. The Affordable Care Act is one of the key healthcare policies in the United States.

The main aim of the policy was to expand the healthcare insurance coverage to all the citizens of

the United States (Ahmad, Khan & Haque, 2018). In addition, it also focuses on curbing

healthcare costs and spending. Most importantly, the policy majorly created significant effects to

the insurance industry. The reform has been implemented incrementally since 2010. The

proponents of the Affordable Care Act contend that it will massively lower costs and improve

the accessibility to healthcare services. In other words, the policy allows the American’s

population to be entitled into quality healthcare services equitably regardless of age, race,

gender, and socioeconomic quo.

Healthcare policy, by description, involves the implementation and creation of rules,

laws, and regulations for managing the healthcare system of a country. The healthcare system

has services provided by physicians to treat, diagnose, and prevent physical and mental illness

and injury (Hanney et al., 2017). Notably, the key components of the healthcare policy include;

health care costs, health insurance coverage, and preventive care. The policy was enacted into

main categories; the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and it was amended by the

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.

The factors that heavily contributed to the creation of the Affordable Care Act included;

the cost of healthcare services, the accessibility of healthcare services, the quality of the
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healthcare services, and the reliability of the healthcare services. Before the law was introduced,

the United States’ healthcare system experienced intense health disparities and equalities.

Health care reforms, by definition, involve policies that affect health care delivery

system. In most countries, they are executed by the government. Health care reforms guarantee

the successful delivery of health care coverage to a population through private and public sector

insurance programs (Rotarou & Sakellariou, 2017). The future health care reforms increase the

number of insured individuals hence; increase the quality of health care services. The health care

insurance cover reduces the treatment cost for a population who are under health-based insurance

coverage. On the other hand, healthcare policy; by description, involves the implementation and

creation of rules, laws, and regulations for managing the healthcare system of a country (Ahmad,

Khan & Haque, 2018). The healthcare system has services provided by physicians to treat,

diagnose, and prevent physical and mental illness and injury. Notably, the key components of the

healthcare policy include; health care costs, health insurance coverage, and preventive care. The

policy was enacted into main categories; the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and it

was amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.

The objectives of healthcare reforms include reducing the cost of healthcare services and

improving their quality and accessibility. In short, they influence the overall health. The rapidly

increasing cost of healthcare has caused increasing strain on the disposable income of consumers

(Belita, 2020). The Affordable Care Act is one of the key healthcare policies in the United

States. The main aim of the policy was to expand the healthcare insurance coverage to all the

citizens of the United States. In addition, it also focuses on curbing healthcare costs and

spending. Most importantly, the policy majorly created significant effects to the insurance

industry. The reform has been implemented incrementally since 2010 (Rotarou & Sakellariou,
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2017). The proponents of the Affordable Care Act contend that it will massively lower costs and

improve the accessibility to healthcare services (Belita, 2020). In other words, the policy allows

the American’s population to be entitled into quality healthcare services equitably regardless of

age, race, gender, and socioeconomic quo.

The Rationale for the Healthcare Payment System

The most precious resource of any country is its people, and the most important way to

nature this resource is by enhancing the health delivery system to each individual to improve

their health quality (Barasa et al., 2018). However, the effort to improve health care system is

disadvantaged by the poor payment systems in most countries that does not reward the staff in

the health care system. A new payment system is therefore needed which will greatly appreciate

the action of the health care givers. To the benefit of these reforms, it is greatly supported which

means it will improve the healthcare system and delivery by improving the payment system for

the healthcare services.

The few years that have passed have seen the government heavily fund the essential

health programs in order to better the quality of healthcare services offered. Every American is

supposed to receive best healthcare both at an individual level and as a population. This includes;

having them experience positive effects from the quality healthcare services, which are usually

monitored successfully by the public health system (Furlong & Smith, 2015). In regard to the

purpose of healthcare in promising the country good healthcare, the committee usually act by

first choosing one of the Institute of Medicine reports covering on the quality aspect gap.

Physicians have undergone through a period of challenges when it comes to the existing

payment procedures and models. This have resulted to increased medical care access whereby

the CHIP Reauthorization Act have sort for effective and proper techniques of paying the
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physicians. The reason behind this decision has been the promotion of good and better healthcare

to the ailing patients (Lowe et al., 2012). The delivery system of MACRA and ACA has relied

much on the transforming medical care payments methods for the purpose of increasing the

quality of care given to the patients. Successful implementation of this process can lead greater

developments that can be of benefit to all patients including those who are not yet registered in

the medical care programs. It is good news that ACO managed to be the most successful and also

very crucial delivery system reform of the time (Furlong & Smith, 2015). Its main aim has been

to reduce the level of spending on medical care by the physicians and the healthcare facilities and

ensuring that sustainable health care is met.

Medical care has the role of shaping the service delivery system into a better process that

impacts the patients positively. It is concerned with the payment of the system and along the way

nurses, patients and hospital institutions are influenced positively. Through this you find that the

mood of the physicians is improved thus; increased productivity because the nurses are well paid

(Furlong & Smith, 2015). In such a scenario, the physicians can organize themselves in a proper

manner such that they are able to do away with the barriers and offer quality care unto the

patients. Indeed, the doing away with the fee for service payment have seen the medical care

system lack coordination among the service providers and as a result, waste, inefficiency

redundancy gets to engulf the delivery services.

Healthcare policies perform significant roles in the United States’ healthcare system.

They ensure that every individual is entitled to quality, safe, affordable, and reliable healthcare

services. Advance directives provide an opportunity for patients to state their preferences for care

while they are capable of doing so (Rotarou & Sakellariou, 2017).  As part of the Patient Self

Determination Act (PSDA) which became effective in the United States in 1991, it places greater
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emphasis in the patient's right to participate in their health care decisions, the right to accept or

refute treatment, the right to prepare an advance directive, and the right to information on

providers’ policies regarding these rights.

The single-payer- system reform in health care is the insurance cover that ensures the

government pays all the insurance claims. The adoption of a single-payer system in other

countries enables the population to receive health care by paying the subsidized health care cost

since the government is responsible for the claims (Furlong & Smith, 2015). The single payer-

system ensures the government pays for the universal health care coverage to the insured

population. A single-payer system is contracted for health care service delivery in private

organizations or health hospitals (Rotarou & Sakellariou, 2017). Moreover, a single-payer

system covers both legal residents and citizens in the implemented regions. The government

applies proper formulation to archive the policy adopted in the various countries hence reduces

health care burden and improves the health care results to the insured population.

Various Countries under the World health organization aim to implement the single-

payer system strategy to enable them to achieve sustainable development goals by reducing the

mortality rate. The single-payer system establishes the single risk committee that ensures

subsidizing the price of the drugs in the hospitals or organization. The committee also establishes

rules that governed the payment of the employees and minimum requires standard services.

Further, the implementation of a single-payer system in developed countries covers health care

costs for both citizens and legal residence (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2019). Various governments

are increasingly adopting the single-payer system to ensure the reduction of the rate of mortality

due to successful health delivery to insured individuals. The adoption of a single-payer system is

vital in delivering universal health care to the population under the universal insurance cover.
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The single payers-system covers the population ensuring safe and affordable health care

delivery for all is achieved. The insurance allows the individual to seek safe, and affordable

treatment from the doctor without a cost. The single-pay system covers both rich and poor to get

treatment from the contracted medical care or organization (Rotarou & Sakellariou, 2017). The

population who are covered under the single-payer system are encouraged to seek health as a

right and not a privilege. The implementation of a Single-payer system offers equity, negotiation,

and risk pooling in the healthcare system delivery. Also, the adoption of a single-payer system

offers equitable and free treatment to the insured population hence reduces health care delivery

costs to the individuals (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). The reduction of mortality cases in various

countries contributes to population growth.

The single-payer system reduces treatment costs to the insured population. The

implementation of a single-payer system in the countries like Canada, and the United States of

America respectively reduces treatment costs to the population. The population in the countries

with higher expectancy rate benefits since free health care provision contributes to lowering the

infant mortality rate (Edmonds, Campbell & Gilder, 2017). The single-payer system guarantees

the access of health insurance cover to the individuals hence ensures smooth universal health

care delivery. Nevertheless, the reduction of cost by the single-payer system in health care

delivery reduces costs burden of treatment. The reduction of treatment costs burden encourages

the insured population to seek regular medical checkups.

The implementation of a single-payer system in various countries creates spending

leverage. The single-payer system limits spending power among the individuals under the health

care insurance cover. The single-payer system contains large systems that use the cash single

pool to examine the spending leverage since it entails the size that enables the negotiation of
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lower overall payment rates (Jost et al., 2017). The single-payer system reduces the costs in

health care through the application of medical services, and medication prescription. Moreover, a

single-payer system creates spending leveling in contracted private medical organizations or

hospitals by establishing a common payment rate. The leveling of payment rate in both public

and private organization or hospitals to the population under health care cover insurance enable

the individuals to receive quality health care.

The single-payer system lacks formulation to solves the health personnel shortage

problems. The implementation of the single-payer system in health care never solves the doctor's

shortage problems. The doctor’s shortage problems in the various countries that implement the

single-payer causes the barriers to health care delivery (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). The health care

delivery in such countries is affected due to the high population seeking treatment in the

organization or hospitals. The patients seeking treatment in the hospitals or organization fails to

access the treatment due to the shortage number of trained health care personnel. Besides, even

with the adoption of a single-payer system in regions with a low number of medical personnel in

the treatment facilities majority are stacked to access the treatment due to the high population

seeking to be attended to.

Single-payer system delays health care delivery. In the single-payer system, the

individual is forced to wait for the services due to the high population seeking to be served by

medical personnel specialized for services. The adoption of the single-payer system forces the

patients to excessively waiting for long to receive the emergency medication (Cherry & Jacob,

2016). The health care delivery is caused by low medical specialized personnel. The adoption of

a single-payer system in health care creates complicated indemnity since only the government is
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responsible for risk costs. The government spends highly on health care delivery to the insured

individuals but fails to solve health personnel shortage problems.

The Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act is one of the key healthcare policies currently in the United

States. The main aim of this policy is to expand the healthcare insurance coverage to all the

citizens of the United States (Doshmangir et al., 2019). As well, it also focuses on curbing

healthcare costs and spending as it is less expensive. The reform has been implemented

incrementally since 2010. The proponents of the Affordable Care Act contend that it will

massively lower costs and improve the accessibility to healthcare services. In other words, the

policy allows the American’s population to be entitled into quality healthcare services equitably

regardless of age, race, gender, and socioeconomic quo thus being protected against financial

risk.

Merits of Health Care Payment Reforms

The current healthcare payment systems in many nations block the nation health rather

than supporting it by not rewarding wellness of high quality. The system also increases the cost

of health delivery thus making it inaccessible to some individuals (Erickson et al., 2020). From

the reforms, payment will encourage and reward high quality care givers thus limiting medical

errors and ineffective care. This will also promote the goals of providing high quality care in

different health care providers by using accepted practices. This will be effected by aligning

incentives among all stakeholders thus ensuring coordination of health services based on the

accepted practices hence reducing unnecessary waste.

In addition, it will also promote national health care goals of wellness, high quality care

and system stability through alignment and coordination of efficient services appropriately.
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Through this health care payment reforms, there will be sufficient balance between the needs and

concerns of all stakeholders hence creating fairness and sustainability. The payment will

recognize the appropriate total cost for the delivery of healthcare services that are necessary. The

payment system will also create fairness for all customers thus not limiting some in terms of their

social class (Schlegel & Vazquez 2021). In terms of paying for the healthcare service delivered,

the payment process will be simplified to the standard payment rates and be totally transparent.

This will limit the complexity of billing system and volumes of communication to healthcare

consumers by using the standardized payment methodology nationwide.

The burden of administration will also be reduced greatly. Finally, there will be societal

benefit by supporting the health goals of access to care and other societal benefits. The payment

system will be rewarding innovators who develop technologies, services, processes and

procedures that enhance safe high quality efficient healthcare hence reducing the chances of

errors occurring in the healthcare sector. The Affordable Care Act also guaranteed basic care to

all. Nobody would have to go without being given health care due to a job loss, no or inadequate

fund (Doshmangir et al., 2019). One insurance can also be used by next of kin, thus there would

be greater control over costs and businesses would not have to fold due to the exorbitant and

rising cost of providing health insurance to their employees and third party. The cost of universal

health care is also quit cheap and has greatly helped, especially in time of this current worldwide

pandemic being experienced. The noble Corona virus has led to many losing jobs thus no money.

Since health is very necessary, universal health care comes in to our rescue at a cheaper price

hence receiving healthcare services.

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Challenges in Implementing the New Health Care Reforms

The new reforms in the health care payment system have got a lot of benefits to the

people of a nation, however, there are a mammoth challenge that can be experienced while

implementing the reforms. The challenges include; whether the standards are established on a

national or regional level. This may cause confusion as one region may use their set standards

whereas the others are using the nationwide set standards (Rotarou & Sakellariou 2017). As

well, the method of implementing these principles may need to adhere to antitrust law hence

maintaining vigorous competition in the market place. There could also cause a hike in the prices

in order to match those of competitors in the same market, therefore hurting the consumers

greatly. However, at some points, this transparency may lower the price of healthcare good and

services in the market.

Elements of New Payment System

 Free for service where payment to healthcare provider is based on every service provided

to patient.

 Condition specific capitation which involves receiving single payment for delivering a

group of services designed to meet the care need of a specific health condition.

 Per diem where payment of e pre-established amount is given to a provider based on each

day of patient’s treatment for a particular condition.

 Full capitation which involves the healthcare provider receiving single global payment

for delivering a group of services designed to meet the no acute health needs of a covered

group of individuals.

The Public Health Nursing Assessment program provides an amicable objective that

primarily aims to improve Americans' health care system. For the past couple of years, the
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program has initiated several benchmarking activities that vividly purpose to determine the

effects of prevention activities, empower people towards making rational health-based decisions,

and enhance teamwork and collaborations among sectors and communities (Carvalho et al.

2017). It has a ten-year-old plan or ambition that collectively aims to improve all United States

residents' health care system. Its mission is to create a society where all people are subjected to

healthy lives and live longer. It has numerous tasks, including identifying the countrywide health

improvement priorities, identifying critical evaluation, research, and the data collection

requirements, and providing measurable goals and objectives applicable at the local, state, and

national levels.

Moreover, it promotes health equity, improving the health of all groups, and eliminating

disparities. Public Health Nursing Assessment was one of the fundamental ideologies of the

ruling Federal government that aims to enhance the quality of the healthcare system across all

the United States (Schlegel & Vazquez, 2021). One of its key goals was to promote health

equity, improve all groups' health, and eliminate health-based disparities. For a long period, the

U.S. has been experiencing many challenges in the healthcare sector that have led to millions of

deaths yearly. As a result, the Federal government made an informed decision with the eventual

goal of reducing the rate of human mortality due to disparities and ignorance (Edmonds,

Campbell & Gilder, 2017).

Public health nursing assessment also provides support during the decision-making

process in a healthcare delivery setup. Besides, it provides comprehensive and conclusive

information and data regarding the health care status of a family, an individual, population,

system, and community (Belita, 2020). Many scientific theorists believe that community

assessment is one of the significant functions of public health nursing since it is one way a
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community can be critically analyzed and evaluated. The general nursing professionals contend

that populations, communities, systems, and families influence all the key stakeholders' well-

being and health in regions where they reside. Similarly, families, people, systems, and

communities affect the health of the community (Spencer et al., 2018). Most of the Public Health

Nursing Assessment tools use the concept of Healthy People 2020 as their pioneer framework.

Ideally, it incorporates the concept of the four main foundation health measures that also carry

out the role of indicating the progress towards attaining the concepts of Healthy People 2020.

Creating a good, trusting, and robust relationship with the community stakeholders

establishes a conducive and amicable environment that stimulates the community stakeholders'

good performance. Many American residents experience high blood pressure and obesity as well

as other common cardiovascular-related disorders. Moreover, it establishes a robust and stronger

sense of joint ownership, particularly of the community health assessment process. Since this is a

crucial step, all the key stakeholders should be appropriately involved and engaged through

suitable consultations throughout the CHA process (Ahmad, Khan & Haque, 2018). The critical

elements of s robust engagement and identification of stakeholders include: developing an

engagement approach, mapping assets that enhance community health assessment, forming an

external assessment committee, and identifying stakeholders that will participate in the CHA

process.

It needs to take a deliberate process when involving and engaging the stakeholders. The

hospital CHA developers and the community stakeholders should work collaboratively to define

their responsibilities and roles. As a result, they need to unanimously agree on their critical

expectations for engagement and involvement (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2019). It is possible to

facilitate such collaboration and teamwork through a shared understanding of the CHA goals and
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expectations. The procedure of mapping the critical assets focuses on the available resources and

individuals within a specific community. In this case, the common types of assets to identify can

include existing intervention resources, informational resources, human resources, political

resources, and physical resources. Indeed, the stakeholders can take various forms; they can be

the community, hospital, organizations, individuals, and other individuals who can voice their

concerns and be heard.

Health Insurance

The History and Evolution of Private Health Insurance and Managed Care

Health insurance and managed care comprise inventions of the 20th century. For over a

prolonged period, they were never called ‘insurance’ but ‘prepaid healthcare,’ for instance, a way

of accessing and paying for the services of healthcare rather than protecting against financial

losses. However, for its inception, the concept of health insurance has experienced a never-

ending state of evolution and turbulence.

In the United States, the origins of managed care can be sketched back to the 19th century.

During this time, a small number of physicians from various US cities started offering prepaid

medical care to individuals of unions and other social workers. According to Chung & Mullner

(2016), a small yearly fee was paid by each individual from a partaking association.

Consequently, individuals would gain unlimited access to the physician’s healthcare services.

Nonetheless, during the early 20th century, mining, railroad, and lumber organizations

coordinated their medical services or otherwise contracted with health groups to deliver care for

their employees and workers.

In the 1930s, through the great depression, there were common prepaid contracts between

employees and employers (Chung & Mullner, 2016). As such, by the start of the 1970s, the
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central government and several large private organizations started encouraging their employees

to join the prepaid types of healthcare groups. In spite of the encouragement, there was a

recorded slow growth in the prepaid group practice. During the mid-1980s, companies

increasingly sought managed care to manage the rising cost of offering healthcare profits to their

employees. In the 1990s, the enrolments to managed care ascended, and today, a vast majority of

Americans are privately insured (Fox & Kongstvedt, 2013). Additionally, a substantial portion of

citizens involved in the executive-sponsored Medicare and Medicaid programs are covered and

insured as a form of managed care.

Managed care has evolved into the healthcare industry by associating with Health

Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs). Health

insurance applies different methods of financing and organization of the delivery of healthcare to

control costs (Chung & Mullner, 2016). They can do this through selective contracting by

comparing different hospital costs and physician charges to identify the lowest-priced

practitioners. Additionally, they use innovative economic incentives to encourage enrollees to

select the less costly forms of healthcare and utilization review to observe provider prices and

healthcare quality received by enrollees.

Key Federal Laws Protecting Individuals Enrolled in Private Insurance

Various federal laws have been implemented to protect privately insured individuals. The

laws include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Insurance Portability

and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act affects all

individuals, including groups of companies and employees, whether presently covered, pursuing

coverage, or previously uninterested in coverage. The act avails key provisions such as the

shared responsibility requirement stating that businesses with 50 or more employees should
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provide insurance to their employees or pay the penalty (Rosenbaum, 2011). Additionally, the

act also requires setting up health insurance marketplaces to enable small businesses to purchase

health insurance. Moreover, under the act, small business healthcare tax credits are provided to

help offset insurance costs.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects American

employees by enabling them to carry policies of health insurance from one job to the next. The

program allows employees and workers to use a chosen group of health insurance policies to

replace lost insurance coverage and adjust for changes in the family such as births, marriages,

and adoptions (Edemekong et al. 2020). The program prohibits insurers from undermining

against policy applicants because of health problems. If, for example, a company rejects a

worker’s application, the employee may request for coverage outside the regular period of

enrollment. Moreover, the act also protects employees’ insurance rights.

Consumer-Driven Healthcare and Healthcare Consumer Empowerment

Over the past five years, a small number of growing businesses have been providing

consumer-driven healthcare. Consumer-driven healthcare care entails establishing employee

health plans comprising high deductibles, savings accounts and low premiums. The objective of

the health plans is to lower the costs for businesses and employers, encourage workers to have

more informed and polished decisions about the health care they pursue, and grow the overall

percentage of workers under insurance. However, the notion of consumer-driven healthcare has

associated strengths and weaknesses.

When it was first presented in early 2000, it was greatly ineffective. It was a means for

companies to shift healthcare costs to their workers. While consumers had several options, none

were feasible. The nature of the savings accounts of high deductibles and the exemption from tax
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meant workers and their employees would spend less on healthcare; however, if a worker got

sick, most of the cost would be deferred to them. However, with a plan of low deductible, the

employee and the employer would equally share the cost (Robinson & Ginsburg, 2009).

Consumer-driven care had the intention of encouraging employees to look around for cost-

effective care. Still, few employees had access and possessed consistent information regarding

the quality and cost of healthcare. Additionally, employees reduced their consumption of

unnecessary healthcare because of the thought that they could not afford it. The consumer-driven

plans demand employees distinguish between the required and unnecessary care, which many

people medically trained are incapable of doing (Robinson & Ginsburg, 2009). Despite having

had the best track record since its implementation, consumer-driven healthcare plans aren’t bad.

The primary goals of consumer-driven healthcare plans are to reduce spending on

healthcare. While the reduction is relatively little, a little difference in the expenses can be

significant for many businesses and individuals. Moreover, the plans help save money for

healthy workers since such workers do not have to spend much on their premiums and rarely

seek care. As such, employees can save money for hospitalizations and doctor visits. Despite

having flaws, consumer-driven healthcare greatly makes a significant difference concerning how

employees regard their healthcare choices.

The empowerment of consumers plays a central role in enhancing access to quality care.

Consumers with the tools to make informed, smart choices about their healthcare can make more

value-conscious decisions regarding their healthcare. Consumers can be empowered by offering

access to information that enables them to find good doctors and the best hospitals for treatment

with affordable charges (Fox & Lambertson, 2011). Moreover, the empowerment of consumers
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in a healthcare setting enhances patient treatment outcomes as they are involved in their

individual decisions making.

Emerging Opportunities for Nurses Within the Private Insurance Market

Private insurance provides significant chances for nurses. As the Affordable Care Act

lifts the number of patients under medical coverage, the health insurance companies are hiring

numerous nurses to organize care for the persons newly insured. For example, more than 7000

extra nurses have been hired in the last ten years at the UnitedHealth Group (UNH) (Japsen, B.

(2015). Moreover, nurse staffing has been declared as an all-time high due to the shifts made by

the healthcare form the traditional fees for service medicine to value-based care linked to

performance, outcome, and the quality of care offered to patients. Additionally, Cigna, an

insurance company, also confirmed hiring 2000 nurses, which formed over six times the number

of nurses.

Nurses have a significant role since the health regulation, and trends and tendencies in

health insurance inspire more coordination and organization of medical care. This ensures that

patients are receiving the right medication, in the right places, and at the appropriate moments.

Additionally, health insurers are shifting huge amounts of cash as hospital payments through

alternative compensation models, for instance, patient-centered medical care and Accountable

Care Organizations (ACOs) (Japsen, 2015). Nurses perform outreach as a team-based approach

to ensure medications are taken, diets are followed, and protocols of wellness are observed.

Provision of quality healthcare services is the most assured way to improve the quality of

life and living standard of a given population. The main objective of Affordable Care Act (ACA)

is enhancing and improving the safety and quality of healthcare. It is one of the significant

healthcare reforms that the United States’ government has ever made in history. From the
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foregoing, healthcare reforms, by description, means better health-based care for everyone. The

Affordable Care Act, through its provisions, has assisted people to acquire health insurance

regardless of their level of income. Ideally, healthcare reforms aim at widening the population

receiving healthcare coverage, improving accessibility to healthcare professionals, allowing

people to access wide range of healthcare services, increasing the affordability of the healthcare

services, and improving the quality of healthcare services (Pacheco, Haselswerdt & Michener,

2020).

It is now about 9 years since the Obamacare was signed into law. As the result, the

healthcare system has massively transformed through expansion of health coverage. In Florida,

the State where I live, more than 3 million people benefit from the program with a thousand of

lives being saved. Significantly, it has provided codified protections to people having underlying

conditions. It has also immensely reduced the cost of health care services. The Affordable Care

Act goes beyond coverage and instruct employers to give breastfeeding workers break during

working hours. It also initiated the prevention and public health fund that gives the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention ample time to respond to unplanned threats (Zhao et al., 2020).

Indeed, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is not only handy to the

United States but also nifty. It has saved numerous lives and improve quality of life of a million

of people. Therefore, in my view, I believe it will improve the performance score of the United

States if not politicized (Courtemanche, Marton & Yelowitz, 2020).

Health Policy Summary and Recommendations

Introduction

Healthcare policies can be defined as the creation and implementation of regulations,

laws, and rules primarily for controlling and managing the healthcare delivery system of a
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country. They facilitate how the physicians should examine, diagnose, and treat patients based on

the required ethical considerations (Ahmad, Khan & Haque, 2018). The main elements of a

health policy include health insurance coverage, healthcare costs, and preventive care. The main

goals of health care policies include improving healthcare services quality and accessibility while

reducing their costs. In other words, they influence the general health care delivery system.

Indeed, the increasing costs of healthcare services have imposed a massive strain on the

disposable income of the patients.

Description of the Contraceptive Policy

The rapid increase of population as a result of untimely birth has brought adverse effects

in the United States. There are no adequate jobs, housing, and food leading to unexplained

poverty. As a result, contraceptive policies have been implemented to prevent the high birth rate.

The policy was combined with the Affordable Care Act since they had similar objectives. The

Affordable Care Act is one of the key healthcare policies introduced by the federal government

of the United States to reduce the costs and assure quality health care services to ordinary

Americans. At its simplest, it mainly focuses on preventing healthcare spending and costs (Jost et

al. 2017). Moreover, it also influences the healthcare insurance companies. The proponents of

this policy believe that it will hugely benefit the low-income population who may have limited

access to health care services due to insufficient resources (Hanney et al. 2017). The policy

allows all Americans to have equal access to health care services regardless of their age, sexual

orientation, and race.

The main factors that attributed to the formulation and implementation of the

Contraceptive and Affordable Care Act policies were: the accessibility of the healthcare services

by the low-income population, the cost of the healthcare services, and the reliability of the health
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care services (Hanney et al. 2017). Before the policy was executed and implemented, the

healthcare delivery system of the United States experienced massive challenges such as shortage

of nurses and health inequities and disparities. The policy makers need to mobilize through mass

education programs to create awareness on the significance of the policy.

Description of the Client/Target. A policy can simply be said to be a set of rules that

organizations have enacted as a guide to the employees towards certain set goals. Workplaces

policies are known for developing boundaries and best practices for the proposed behavior in the

organization. These policies have the purpose of allowing better communication to the

employees regarding how they're expected to behave in the workplace. Other than

communication, policies are known to go hand in hand with an organization's mission and vision

statements and thus they reveal the kind of reputation an organization aims to build (Lowe et al.

2018). Every decision-maker within an organization is expected to make challenging decisions

such that they influence positively the operations of a company. An employee who is a strong

decision-maker knows how to effectively solve a problem and critically finds solutions to the

problems the organization may be facing. Indeed, decision-makers are great leadership

employees because they effectively weigh on the available options and decides on that which

will benefit the organization and the employees too.

A decision-maker is that person with an organization that has the power to strategize and

make decisions that are meant to boost the organization's operations. She is a high-ranked person

within the organization who is expected to decide on the things that are objectives and aims of an

organization for greater success (Hanney et al. 2017). Research has shown that men and women

do differ in their strategies for decision-making processes. Females are said to be more inclusive

where they put into consideration both the subjective and objective aspects, but men tend to
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favor the objectives one. This does not mean that men do not value other people's opinions, but

their approach is what makes them appear as if they are not much subjective like they are in the

objective. Females are considered as effective decision-makers because they don't just use other

people's experiences in their decisions, but they do try to figure out the reasons and motivations

behind certain experiences and whether they can be applicable in their organizations.

It has been identified that policies that were thought to be unrelated to health issues have

indeed resulted in impactful consequences in the health sector. Major health problems have been

associated with unintended consequences of various social policies that were thought could have

nothing to do with health. The problem is that the health decision-makers fail to agree on some

issues and in such a case you find that the best policy may fail to be implemented out of the

doing of these decision-makers (Ahmad, Khan & Haque, 2018). Failure to agree has resulted in

the development of poor policies and the ailing persons are the ones who suffer the most. You

find that the death rate increases and even contraction of certain illnesses. Policy issues have

proven to be very consequential because out of making poor decisions by the leaders, the

functioning of an organization is going to be poor. The intended success will not be met because

of the conflicts among the policymakers.

This policy targets a group of population who have high birth rate and living in a specific

region. Regions with high population experience numerous challenges ranging from exploitation

of resources to increase in crime rates. In addition, the policy also targets adolescents and young

women who are still fertile and can conceive any moment they mate with their partners. Truly,

the policy may be accompanied with many side effects when used with a lot of ignorance. The

policy makers should therefore; comprehensively outline the minimum thresholds that need to be

fulfilled before an individual is subjected into contraceptives.

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Description of the Issue/Problem. Healthcare systems across the entire world are

thriving to mitigate the high unplanned birth rates and nurses’ shortages, which has led to

massive healthcare-based challenges. The high birth rate and shortages of nurses have created a

huge vacuum as far as the patients’ health status is concerned. This has also resulted in adverse

effects on governments since they are unable to provide adequate resources to their citizens

(Furlong & Smith, 2015). The emergence of contraceptives has led to immense effects to

populations and governments. In the traditional generation, women could give birth as many

children as possible despite the unfavorable the economy was. As a result, the population

increases unsustainably. The healthcare facilities became flooded leading to unexplained

shortages of healthcare professionals.

When the demand for healthcare services is higher than the number of health

professionals, many people end up losing their dear lives while others suffer in agony. In some

situations, patients may end up not receiving promising and satisfactorily healthcare-based

services as they expected. This means that the majority of them lose their lives even after

thriving to seek medication. The main factor that contributes to the increasing incidences of

nurses’ shortage includes the increasing number of Baby Boomer populations. This implies that

as the aged population increases, numerous baby boomer nurses seek retirement while their

replacements are not done immediately.

Moreover, the increasing geriatric population significantly increases the healthcare

dependency ratio despite inadequately skilled health professionals to meet their health-based

demands satisfactorily (Lowe et al., 2018). In the United States, there are not enough resources

to train healthcare professionals such as nurses thus attributing highly to the shortage of nurses.

Most importantly, an accurate solution to this issue has never been found (Cherry & Jacob,
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2016). However, many students should be admitted to medical institutions to pursue nursing-

related courses.

Public health evolved through trial and error and times it was out of disasters and war.

The need for organized health grew as part of community life development among other social

reforms. Religious sects also had a part in this because they influenced some of the approaches

meant to be applied in the control of diseases. Indeed, the evolution of public health is a

continuing process where changes keep on happening where necessary (Furlong & Smith, 2015).

The public health professionals have created systems that are have helped in the encouragement

of healthy behaviors and prevent diseases at all levels These professionals have encouraged the

implementation of digital technologies in the health sector to make healthcare accessible to the

public. These technologies have proven to make healthcare better than before.

Landscape

The government assented the Medicare bill to fund the essential health programs such as

the provision of contraceptive pills to the public and the Affordable Care Act. Over the past few

decades, health professionals have experienced tremendous challenges based on the existing

payment models and procedures (Lowe et al. 2018). Consequentially, it has increased medical

care accessibility in which the CHIP Reauthorization Act has sort for proper and effective

techniques of paying the health professionals. The government devolved the healthcare sector as

a way of promoting good and better healthcare to the ailing patients. Indeed, the contraceptive

policy and the ACA was introduced by the government mainly to contain favorable population

and help the low-income population to access quality healthcare services affordably (Cherry &

Jacob, 2016). However, the government also realized that the policy may not be successfully

implemented if there is a shortage of nurses. As a result, the same policy facilitates nursing
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recruitment through the provision of benefits and compensation. Under this intervention, all

Americans are entitled to effective and quality healthcare service, which improve their quality of

life.

Solutions to the Problem

The best solution to the issue is the provision of adequate resources to the health sector

by the government to facilitate the training of nurses. The nurses and other health professionals

have the mandate to advise the patients on the most effective contraceptive pills to take

otherwise they may cause adverse effects on patients (Lowe et al. 2018). In reality, people look

for greener pastures where they are paid well, valued, and dignity respected. In fact, nurses

should be the highest-paid public servant in all countries across the world (Lowe et al. 2018).

Their basic salary should be accompanied by allowances, benefits, and compensations. With this,

I am certain that the issue of nurses’ shortages will be a story of the past (Furlong & Smith,

2015). Many people will be interested to pursue the course at the highest education level.

Therefore, skilled and experienced nurses will be uncountable. This implies that the quality of

healthcare services will also increase tremendously.

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Recommendations

The healthcare policies have the mandate to shape and modify the healthcare service delivery

system into an effective process that impacts the patients positively;

1. The nurses should be adequately paid in order to attract more potential people to the

professional.

2. Even though no accurate solution to this issue has never been found, many students

should be admitted to medical institutions to pursue nursing-related courses.

3. Many health programs should be formulated to ensure that every American is entitled to

safe, quality, reliable, and affordable healthcare services.

Policy solutions do require complex ideas such as innovations that are purported to solve

certain problems. Research and creativity do help come up with the best ideas that are meant to

pinpoint the best solutions to the current health issues. The health issues will keep on recurring,

and that why health professionals keep on looking for better solutions (Cherry & Jacob, 2016).

Policy responses have solved several issues because it's through this process that the solutions

are made and proposed for application. These policy solutions have aided in coordination and

provision for stability in the health sector. They have guided the thinking and actions of the

facilitators' thus quick and accurate decisions have been made. However, there are potential

advantages to the development of these policies where there has been a problem in trying to

communicate to the large organizations.

Conclusion

Health policies are important because they facilitate and stimulate the provision of quality

healthcare services. The key stakeholders for any health policy include government, patients,
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health professionals, community, and organizations, among others. I am very sure they will

support my recommendations for the betterment of the healthcare delivery system to the public.

Ideally, policymakers also serve pivotal roles in ensuring that the health-based policies are

executed and implemented. In this case, I would urge the policymakers to consult from other

resourceful sources before making conclusive decisions.

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References

Ahmad, S. A., Khan, M. H., & Haque, M. (2018). Arsenic contamination in groundwater in

Bangladesh: implications and challenges for healthcare policy. Risk management and

healthcare policy, 11, 251.

Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management.

Elsevier Health Sciences.

Furlong, E., & Smith, R. (2015). Advanced nursing practice: policy, education, and role

development. Journal of clinical nursing, 14(9), 1059-1066.

Hanney, S., Greenhalgh, T., Blatch-Jones, A., Glover, M., & Raftery, J. (2017). The impact on

healthcare, policy, and practice from 36 multi-project research programs: findings from

two reviews. Health research policy and systems, 15(1), 1-21.

Jost, S. G., Bonnell, M., Chacko, S. J., & Parkinson, D. L. (2017). Integrated primary nursing: A

care delivery model for the 21st-century knowledge worker. Nursing administration

quarterly, 34(3), 208-216.

Lowe, G., Plummer, V., O’Brien, A. P., & Boyd, L. (2018). Time to clarify–the value of

advanced practice nursing roles in health care. Journal of advanced nursing, 68(3), 677-

685.
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References

Ahmad, S. A., Khan, M. H., & Haque, M. (2018). Arsenic contamination in groundwater in

Bangladesh: implications and challenges for healthcare policy. Risk management and

healthcare policy, 11, 251.

Hanney, S., Greenhalgh, T., Blatch-Jones, A., Glover, M., & Raftery, J. (2017). The impact on

healthcare, policy and practice from 36 multi-project research programmes: findings from

two reviews. Health research policy and systems, 15(1), 1-21.