Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Paper

Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Paper

Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Paper

Healthcare needs vary across populations and patient groups. Since most people encounter access, equity, and affordability challenges, special regulations are necessary to ensure people receive the health they deserve. Healthcare legislation involves federal, state, and local regulations seeking to improve health care delivery (Vogenberg & Smart, 2018). Improving health care delivery and addressing the challenges people and communities face are integral to optimizing people and communities’ health. Legislation focuses on unique groups or the entire population. It can cover specific areas such as access, elderly health, pediatric care, or the general population’s health as situations necessitate. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recently proposed bill through a legislation grid and a legislation testimony/advocacy statement.

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Legislation Grid

Health-related Bill Name	RURAL Veterans Act. It may also be cited as Recruiting in Underserved Rural Areas and Localities for Veterans Act.
Bill Number	H.R. 7414
Description	The legislation’s primary focus is health care professionals for veterans in rural areas. It obligates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the Office of Rural Recruitment to improve health care professionals’ recruitment to work in rural and highly rural health care facilities for VA (Congress.gov, 2022). Other requirements under the bill include the Veterans Integrated Service Network establishing strategies for recruiting health care professionals and the Office of Rural Recruitment to conduct feasibility for scholarship programs for health care professionals in exchange for service as full-time employees. Above all, the bill requires the VA to develop fellowships for health care professionals and research strategies for improving the quality of rural health care, access to health, and retention of health care professionals.
Federal or State?	Federal legislation
Legislative Intent	The bill seeks to address access challenges and care quality problems that veterans encounter regularly. As Brunner et al. (2019) noted, lack of access to timely care is common among veterans due to the critical shortage of VA health care professionals in rural areas. In response, the bill places a special emphasis on veterans’ health by improving health care access and quality in rural areas. Lum et al. (2020) highlighted that most veterans in rural areas are advanced in age and medically complex. Due to their high vulnerability to chronic diseases and mental health problems, efforts to address their specific needs comprehensively are necessary. The bill will play a critical role in achieving this goal.
Proponents/ Opponents	Proponents: Rep. Huffman Jared, Rep. Case Ed, Rep. Grothman Glenn, and Rep. Kuster Ann.
	Opponents: None identified
Target Population	VA veterans living in rural areas
Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?)	Committees; it was referred to the Subcommittee on Health on 05/10/2022 (Congress.gov, 2022). Struggling to meet your deadline ? Get assistance on Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Paper done on time by medical experts. Don’t wait – ORDER NOW! Meet My Deadline
General Notes/Comments	Overall, the RURAL Veterans Act is vital legislation requiring speedy legislative implementation. It addresses the needs of a unique population that requires timely and adequate care at a critical stage in life. Increasing the number of health care professionals in rural areas will benefit many veterans since a significant proportion lives in rural areas.

Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

The RURAL Veterans Act requires the VA to improve the recruitment of health care professionals in rural and highly rural health care settings through the Office of Rural Recruitment. Such settings include community-based outpatient clinics and medical centers of the VA (Congress.gov, 2022). To improve care to all populations, health care providers and governments (local, state, and federal) must be committed to providing timely and accessible care to populations. Such care can only be achieved by ensuring adequate health care professionals to provide care when, where, and how it is needed. Accordingly, improving the recruitment of health care professionals in VA rural centers is a practical approach for enhancing health outcomes among veterans.

Research depicts veterans as a vulnerable population requiring close surveillance and medical support. Common diseases among veterans in rural areas include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, depressive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub), 2021). Most health issues are exacerbated by the lack of ready care in rural areas. As a result, increasing the number of health care professionals in rural areas to serve veterans will be pivotal in ensuring that veterans receive timely and specialty care. Lum et al. (2020) further observed that support through telehealth cannot achieve the same outcomes as physical visits to the veterans. The bill will help fix this gap to ensure better health outcomes.

Opponents to this position would be best addressed through evidence-based research and government/clinical/statistical data. For instance, statistics show that 4.7 million veterans live in rural America, and access challenges hamper their health (RHIhub, 2021). Veterans are also unaware of their benefits and need more service providers to support them in all health-related affairs. Evidence-based research provides data on the effects of inadequate health care professionals and the ineffectiveness of telehealth. A suitable example is the article by Lum et al. (2020) illustrating the ineffectiveness of telehealth while sensitizing the importance of physical (in-person) visits. Such data and evidence would help the opponents change their position.

Conclusion

Health care providers and governments use different strategies to improve populations’ health and well-being. Health care legislation is highly effective since it provides local, state, and federal regulations. The RURAL Veterans Act seeks to increase the recruitment of health care professionals in rural areas. It will ensure that veterans receive timely care and that their unique needs are addressed appropriately. Above all, veterans will receive specialty and in-person care conveniently and close to their homes.

References

Brunner, J., Schweizer, C. A., Canelo, I. A., Leung, L. B., Strauss, J. L., & Yano, E. M. (2019). Timely access to mental health care among women veterans. Psychological Services, 16(3), 498–503. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000226

Congress.gov. (2022). All information (except text) for H.R.7414 – RURAL Veterans Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7414/all-info

Lum, H. D., Nearing, K., Pimentel, C. B., Levy, C. R., & Hung, W. W. (2020). Anywhere to anywhere: Use of telehealth to increase health care access for older, rural veterans. Public Policy & Aging Report, 30(1), 12-18. https://doi.org/10.1093/ppar/prz030

RHIhub. (2021). Rural veterans and access to healthcare. https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/returning-soldier-and-veteran-health#:~:text=Veterans%20living%20in%20rural%20areas,can%20exacerbate%20their%20health%20issues.

Vogenberg, F. R., & Smart, M. (2018). Regulatory change versus legislation impacting health care decisions and delivery. P & T: A Peer-Reviewed Journal for Formulary Management, 43(1), 34–38. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5737251/

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Assignment: Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement
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.

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.

To Prepare:

Select a bill that has been proposed (not one that has been enacted) using the congressional websites provided in the Learning Resources.
The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Legislation Grid; 1-page Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement)

Be sure to add a title page, an introduction, purpose statement, and a conclusion. This is an APA paper.

Part 1: Legislation Grid

Based on the health-related bill (proposed, not enacted) you selected, complete the Legislation 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?
Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Based on the health-related bill you selected, develop a 1-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.
At least 2 outside resources and 2-3 course specific resources are used.