Addressing the Low Healthcare Insurance Rate Issue  Essay

Addressing the Low Healthcare Insurance Rate Issue  Essay

18^th July 2023

 

To; Mr. Josh Shapiro

The Governor, Pennsylvania State

Room 225 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Sir:

RE: Addressing the Low Healthcare Insurance Rate Issue

I am writing to draw your attention to a current health issue, low healthcare insurance coverage access. The issue of interest is a low insurance coverage rate. About 8% of US citizens are uninsured, and most individuals cannot afford out-of-pocket healthcare access fees (Dugan, 2020). Health insurance is a significant determiner of healthcare access and quality. Poor health outcomes, missed care opportunities after late diagnosis, and poor prognosis are some of the consequences of lack of health insurance coverage, as Erlangga et al. (2019) support. Pennsylvania state has fewer uninsured individuals (six percent). However, the number is still significant because six percent of the population is at risk for poor care access and health outcomes. The major causes of the lack of health are lack of knowledge and financial ability to pay the health insurance coverage premiums. The number can be further reduced given the current policies by the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid expansion, which can help increase access to health insurance for a larger population.

Lack of healthcare insurance affects communities and organizations significantly. Healthcare insurance coverage affects care-seeking behavior, and uninsured individuals often overlook seeking medical attention due to the high bills, as Cortez et al. (2021) state. Effects of lack of health insurance include delayed healthcare services access hence disease complications and decreased productivity from untreated diseases, and increased care costs treating these complications (Reed et al., 2019). Organizations are often forced to give free healthcare services to patients who cannot afford them, leaving them uncompensated and compromising their ability to serve the population. Surveys show that a significant percentage of hospitals suffer from uncompensated care and bad debts, mostly related to uncompensated care service delivery (Blavin & Ramos, 2021). Institutions are also left with the administrative burden of dealing with patients without insurance who cannot pay for the services.

Farrel and Gottlieb (2020) state that lack of healthcare insurance leads to poor population outcomes that affect community productivity and the burden of caring for the sick who cannot afford care services. The benefits of a lack of health insurance include cost savings, promoting personal choice, and helping avoid limited provider networks. However, these benefits are minimal compared to the demerits of lack of health insurance discussed above. The demerits of lack of insurance coverage outweigh the benefits hence the need to address the problem. According to Yagi et al. (2020), health insurance literacy improves health insurance utilization, primary care, and preventative services access and utilization. The proposed change is robust population education in communities and at the point of care to improve population knowledge and utilization of healthcare insurance services. Funding these services in the state will enhance their success and promote better population health outcomes.

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In my experience as a nurse, I have seen the effects of healthcare insurance patient education on their health behavior and care outcomes. Patients have been denied access to services such as CT scans and MRIs significant to diagnosis due to a lack of healthcare insurance or the ability to pay for them. Lack of healthcare insurance exposes the patient and the care provider to significant avoidable problems. The cost savings from lack of health insurance are barely enough to cover medical expenses, even after years of saving. Lack of health insurance conveys no benefits to patients and care providers. However, its absence leads to poor outcomes. It threatens the financial stability of healthcare institutions and their continued ability to provide care services hence the need to address the healthcare issue. Your support in addressing this healthcare issue will be significant to the residents of your constituents and the entire Pennsylvania State and will thus be highly appreciated.

 

Yours Faithfully

Signature

Student’s Name

References

Cortez, J. L., Vasquez, J., & Wei, M. L. (2021). The impact of demographics, socioeconomics, and health care access on melanoma outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 84(6), 1677-1683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2020.07.125

Reed, N. S., Altan, A., Deal, J. A., Yeh, C., Kravetz, A. D., Wallhagen, M., & Lin, F. R. (2019). Trends in health care costs and utilization associated with untreated hearing loss over 10 years. JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 145(1), 27-34. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2018.2875

Erlangga, D., Suhrcke, M., Ali, S., & Bloor, K. (2019). The impact of public health insurance on health care utilization, financial protection and health status in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. PloS One, 14(8), e0219731. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219731

Farrell, C. M., & Gottlieb, A. (2020). The effect of health insurance on health care utilization in the justice-involved population: United States, 2014–2016. American Journal of Public Health, 110(S1), S78-S84. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305399

Dugan, J. (2020). Effects of health insurance on patient demand for physician services. Health Economics Review, 10, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-020-00291-y

Blavin, F., & Ramos, C. (2021). Medicaid Expansion: Effects On Hospital Finances And Implications For Hospitals Facing COVID-19 Challenges: Study examines Medicaid expansion effects on hospital finances and implications for hospitals facing COVID-19 challenges. Health Affairs, 40(1), 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00502

Yagi, B. F., Luster, J. E., Scherer, A. M., Farron, M. R., Smith, J. E., & Tipirneni, R. (2022). Association of health insurance literacy with health care utilization: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37(2), 375-389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-06819-0

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Write a letter to an official in your state or local government. (Choose the individual in the level of government that will best address your issue). The purpose of this letter is to advocate for action with regards to your chosen health care environment issue.

Introduction

Note: Each assessment in this course builds upon the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.

As health care leaders, it is important to understand strategies for advocating and lobbying elected officials. This can lead to the development of policies or laws that can help drive improved equity and outcomes for all participants in the health care environment as well as a more sustainable financial future.

Background and Context

As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you may be expected to implement plans to ensure that initiatives designed to take advantage of economic opportunities for the organization are rolled out successfully and can be sustained over multiple years. Additionally, it is important to be able to envision how an initiative could be implemented in different contexts and for different purposes to ensure the investment remains a viable and positive asset to your organization or care setting.

As a master’s-level practitioner, you will often be challenged to influence the health care environment in a variety of ways. This influence can occur on a micro-level (implementing change on your unit, institution, community, or local organizations) or at a macro level (implementing change via state or federal regulations and policy). One way you can influence the health care environment is by lobbying an elected official at the local, state, or national level to adopt policies or legislation that would support positive economic and health outcomes for patients, practitioners, and organizations within the health care environment.

Instructions

For this assessment, you will develop a letter to an official in your state or local government (choose the individual in the level of government that will best address your issue). The purpose of this letter is to advocate for action with regards to your chosen health care environment issue. Remember, when writing the letter, you must use your personal address and telephone number unless you are exclusively representing a group or your organization.

Be sure to address each main point. Review the assessment instructions and scoring guide, including performance-level descriptions for each criterion, to ensure you understand the work you will be asked to complete and how it will be assessed. In addition, note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence.

Overall, your assessment submission will be assessed on the following criteria:

Summarize the health care economic issue that you are addressing.

Keep this brief but try to include details about how the issue is currently impacting the elected officials’ constituents.

Explain the positive outcomes that will occur if the issue is addressed and the negative outcomes that will occur if the issue is not addressed.

Tailor this messaging to focus on the impacts in the communities and organizations that are relevant to the elected official you are writing to.

Summarize key information from scholarly sources to support the importance of addressing the issue; the issue’s overall impact on health care at the institutional, local, state, or national level; and proposed changes or actions to address the issue.

Cite at least five current, scholarly sources that support your argument and help provide the elected official (who may not have a detailed knowledge of the health care environment) with an understanding of the issues, changes, or actions that you are proposing to drive improved outcomes.

Identify the impact your issue has on health care institutions and health care providers at the local community, state, or national level.

Make sure to include information from both a health care and an economic perspective. An elected official may be more responsive to one perspective than another.

Incorporate social justice, structural racism, and inequity principles when picking resources and making recommendations for change in your assessment.

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Explain how personal, professional, and organizational experiences have informed the resource planning and risk analysis for working toward addressing the economic issue.

Think about how your experiences (the experiences can be personal, professional, or from your team’s perspective or experience) affect how you have planned for the resources needed to implement your desired changes or actions. How did this impact your approach to conducting a risk analysis on the project?

Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly communication standards.

Remember to conclude your letter with a summary of your position on the issue and a compelling reason that the elected official should act in your favor and support your issue or initiative.

Additional Requirements

Audience: Make sure you are addressing your letter to an actual local or state official.

For most states, you can use the following resource:

Assessment 4: Lobbying for Change.

For local officials, search your city’s government website for officials and their positions.

Length of Submission: 1–2 double spaced pages. Your letter needs to be succinct and persuasive.

Number of References: Cite at least five sources of evidence to support your identification of the gap. This could be public health data, a peer-reviewed journal article, or another scholarly source.

APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style.

Note: As you revise your writing, check out the resources listed on the Writing Center’s Writing Support page.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Analyze the effects of financial and economic factors (such as cost-benefit, supply and demand, return on investment, and risks) in a health care system on patient care, services offered, and organizational structures and operation.

Summarize the health care economic issue that you are addressing.

Competency 2: Develop ethical and culturally equitable solutions to economic problems within a health care organization in an effort to improve the quality of care and services offered.

Explain the positive outcomes that will occur if the issue is addressed and negative outcomes that will occur if the issue is not addressed.

Competency 3: Justify the qualitative and quantitative information used to guide economic decision making to stakeholders and colleagues.

Summarize key information from scholarly sources to support the importance of addressing the issue; the issue’s overall impact on health care at the institutional, local, state, or national level; and proposed changes or actions to address the issue.

Competency 4: Develop ethical and culturally equitable economic strategies to address dynamic environmental forces and ensure the future security of an organization’s resources and its ability to provide quality care.

Explain how personal, professional, and organizational experiences have informed the resource planning and risk analysis for working toward addressing the economic issue.

Competency 5: Produce clear, coherent, and professional written work, in accordance with Capella writing standards.

Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.