NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
Walden University NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT – Step-By-Step Guide
This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.
How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.
After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.
How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.
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How to Write the Body for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.
Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.
How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.
How to Format the References List for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.
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Sample Answer for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
Legislation Grid Template
Nurses play a critical role in improving access to health information and interventions aimed at addressing national and public health concerns like obesity. Obesity is a public health issue because of the risks it exposes an individual to, especially comorbidities due to associated health conditions like heart disease and stroke. Proposed bills in Congress on tackling these issues require nursing advocacy for their enactment to reduce and prevent obesity (Obesity Advocacy Network, 2022). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the proposed bill on obesity in Congress and develop an advocacy statement to support its enactment.
| Health-related Bill Name | Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021 |
| Bill Number | S.596 |
| Description | The bill seeks expansion of Medicare to cover intensive behavior therapy for obesity. Through its enactment, obese individuals can access therapy from providers who may not necessarily be primary care physicians (Congress.GOV, 2022). The bill also covers Medicare’s prescription drug benefits for medications used in treating obesity and management of weight for overweight persons. |
| Federal or State? | Federal |
| Legislative Intent | The legislative intent of this bill is to enhance access to healthcare services for individuals suffering from obesity and overweight by increasing coverage for medications and therapies. The bill allows physicians who may not be primary care providers and other healthcare providers to coordinate care and offer therapy to obese individuals (Congress.GOV, 2022). The expansion means that one does not need to be a primary care provider to offer prescribed therapy. |
| Proponents/ Opponents | Proponents: Supporters for the bill include healthcare providers like physicians, nurses, and patients suffering from obesity. Families with people suffering from the problem and legislators supporting the bill are core proponents. |
| Opponents: conversely, primary care providers like physicians may oppose the bill as well as health insurance companies. These entities may oppose for different reasons like increased cost of care for those covered. | |
| Target Population | The bill targets beneficiaries of Medicare who suffer from obesity and overweight. The bill focuses on improving access to these individuals for better healthcare outcomes. |
| Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?) | The bill is currently in the Senate’s finance committee after its second reading. |
| General Notes/Comments | Access to healthcare services, especially for obese and overweight individuals is essential to reduce the overall burden emanating from the condition. Therefore, this bill should be supported by all stakeholders for its implementation to improve access to care, especially therapies and medications. |
Nurses are health professionals who spend most time with patients in hospitals. However, they make little contribution in the formulation of health policies and many a times, they are involved in implementation of care approaches developed by politicians (Milstead & Short, 2019). Notably, nurses can serves as change agents especially in implementing policies if they are allowed to participate and share their feedback about the care approaches proposed in health bills (Rafferty, 2018). In the present study, a health bill on reducing the costs of prescription drugs in America will be selected and discussed in terms of how nurses can advocate for its implementation. The article is developed in two parts each with illustrations as outlined below.
Part 1: Legislation Grid
| Health-related Bill Name | Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019 |
| Bill Number | H.R.4769 |
| Description | The bill was introduced in the House of Representative on 21st October 2019 by Ms. Jan Schakowsky (Schakowsky, 2019). The proposal was intended to allow the Secretary of Health and Health Services to negotiate for reduced prices of prescription drugs by creating a Medicare-administered prescription plan which would compete with prescription drug plans currently administered by privately-owed pharmaceutical companies (Gudiksen & King, 2019). The intention of this bill is therefore to address the high prices of medications to Americans seeking health services. |
| Federal or State? | Federal |
| Legislative Intent | The United States of America is one of the countries in the world with high prices of medical care. These exorbitant health pricing is attributed to high cost of prescription drugs charged by pharmaceutical companies (Williams, 2019). The bill when passed will ensure that monopolies granted to pharmaceutical companies is ended so that the manufacturers do not charge higher prices when compared to the median costs of the same drugs charged in other developed countries (Schakowsky, 2019). The bill will ensure that the Medicare-operated drug plans are available throughout the country and that they should have a uniform monthly premium to all Americans. |
| Proponents/ Opponents | Proponents: On 18th December 2019, Donald Trump announced plans that would allow states in American to buy prescription drugs from Canada if the said drugs are retailing at high prices in the current state (Williams, 2019). The intention was to reduce the cost of medication after a consideration that Medicare expenses in America are higher than those in Canada. The approach will provide a right direction for the pharmaceutical companies to lower costs of prescription drugs. |
| Opponents: Registered Drug Company Lobbyists and Large Pharmaceutical firms who vouch for the exorbitant prices as ways of making profits (Luo et al., 2019). They argue that the high drug pricing is related to the cost of scientific research that has to be undertaken before a drug is proved to be effective. | |
| Target Population | All American citizens enrolled on prescription drug plans. |
| Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?) | The bill is in the committee stage. An advisory committee of the house are in consultations with physicians to assess cost-effective approaches to lower prices of medications (Socal & Anderson, 2020). |
| General Notes/Comments | Proposed amendment to the bill as defined by the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act should be implemented so that the leaders of Health and Human Services (HHS) can negotiate prescription drug prices for Americans enrolled in Medicare programs. In overall, the bill aims to propose substantive improvements in prescription drug pricing and if passed, it will lessen the burden of healthcare services to Americans. |
Also Read:
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations
REGULATION FOR NURSING PRACTICE STAFF DEVELOPMENT MEETING
THE ROLE OF THE RN/APRN IN POLICY-MAKING
ADVOCATING FOR THE NURSING ROLE IN PROGRAM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
THE ROLE OF THE RN/APRN IN POLICY EVALUATION
ASSESSING A HEALTHCARE PROGRAM/POLICY EVALUATION
GLOBAL HEALTHCARE COMPARISON MATRIX AND NARRATIVE STATEMENT
Sample Answer 2 for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement
The American health system is not considered the best in the world but to the surprise of many, it tends to be the most expensive. It is apparent the high cost of medical care in the country is attributed to high cost of prescription medications charged by private pharmaceutical firms (Williams, 2019). The assertion became evident while I provided my nursing services to patients in surgical unit of a health facility. Several patients in the section failed to adhere to their prescription medication mainly because they could not afford to buy them. Besides, the readmission rates and length of hospital stay were relatively high because the affected patients failed to purchase prescription medication needed to regulate their ailments (Luo et al., 2019). It is therefore important to make legislations that will reauthorize prescription drug manufacturers to review their retail prices to ensure health services are affordable to all Americans (Socal & Anderson, 2020). Through the Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be able to negotiate with drug manufacturers to charge reasonable prices for their medicines.
Many a times, pharmaceutical companies have shown their greed by increasing the cost of drugs with an assumption that people will buy them regardless of the prices charged. The companies through their registered lobbyists also argue that the prescription drugs give relief to Americans suffering from different ailments and that they support the lives of the citizens (Rafferty, 2018). Well, this might be true in the abstract but in actual sense, the companies should be informed and regulated so that they do not have vested interest in making profits at the expense of life of citizens (Gudiksen & King, 2019). Besides, in addressing the opponent of the bill I will assess the drug pricing from other countries and compare it with what our nation charges so that a median price index is agreed on.
In conclusion the prices of medication in American will continue to soar if Congress fail to enact bills to address medication pricing. Passing the Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019 will lay a foundation upon which pharmaceutical companies review their prices to ensure that they are affordable to citizens. The approach will ensure that Americans will not be overburdened by the cost of medication at the expense of greedy pharmaceutical companies.
References
Gudiksen, K. L., & King, J. S. (2019). The Burden of Federalism: Challenges to State Attempts at Controlling Prescription Drug Costs. Journal of Legal Medicine, 39(2), 95-120. https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2019.1645541
Luo, J., Kulldorff, M., Sarpatwari, A., Pawar, A., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2019). Variation in prescription drug prices by retail pharmacy type: a national cross-sectional study. Annals of internal medicine, 171(9), 605-611. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-1138.
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Rafferty, A. M. (2018). Nurses as change agents for a better future in health care: the politics of drift and dilution. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 13(3-4), 475-491. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133117000482
Schakowsky, J. D. (2019, October 21). H.R.4769 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4769?q={“search”:[“prescription+drugs”]}&s=7&r=5.
Socal, M. P., & Anderson, G. F. (2020). Older Americans’ Preferences Between Lower Drug Prices and Prescription Drug Plan Choice, 2019. American journal of public health, 110(3), 354-356. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305483
Williams, L. (2019, December 18). Trump Plan Would Allow States To Buy Cheaper Prescription Drugs From Canada. Retrieved December 20, 2019, from https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-plan-would-allow-states-buy-cheaper-prescription-drugs-canada-2888113.
Sample Answer 3 for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, was a major piece of healthcare legislation enacted into federal law back in 2010. The law has 3 primary goals: Make affordable health insurance accessible to more people, expand the Medicaid program to include all adults with income below 138% of the federal poverty level, and support methods designed to lower the cost of health care (HealthCare.Gov, n.d.). The ACA led to some positive changes; however, the legislation was not without its flaws. According to Stasha (2022), “The uninsured Americans rate reached the lowest it’s ever been, at just 8% in 2022. Over 50 million Americans were uninsured before Obamacare.” This data helps prove that the ACA has helped many Americans gain access to affordable healthcare. Despite these achievements, low income and poor Americans continued to face disparities in access to healthcare under the ACA. Politicians and voters from either side of the political spectrum have strong opinions for or against the ACA legislation. The ACA became a controversial piece of legislation that led to pushback, mainly by republicans and among republican voters. Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became a major talking point among republicans. Many republican politicians used these talking points as the main focus of their election and/or re-election efforts. One of then-president-elect Donald Trump’s promises was to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. According to Machikanti & Hirsch (2016), “the President-elect has described the problems he perceives with the ACA; rapidly rising premiums and deductibles, narrow networks, and limits of coverage imposed by health insurance companies.” Donald Trump laid out his plans to accomplish this campaign promise and goal. According to Macikanti & Hirsch (2016), “President-elect Trump has promised that he will work with Congress to repeal ACA and replace it with a solution that includes health savings accounts and returns the historic role in regulating health insurance to the states.” The ACA has remained in-tact throughout the Trump presidency and is currently in place today. Improvements must be made to ensure that the most vulnerable Americans can have equal access to quality healthcare.
References
Health.care.gov. (n.d.). Affordable Care Act (ACA). https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/Links to an external site.
Jost, T. (2017). Examining the House Republican ACA Repeal and Replace legislation. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20170307.059064Links to an external site.
Manchikanti L., & Hirsch J. A. (2016). Repeal and replace of affordable care: A complex, but not an impossible task. Pain Physician, 19(8), E1109-E1113. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27906931/Links to an external site.
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Stasha, S. (2022). 27+ Affordable Care Act statistics and facts (updated 2022). https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/affordable-care-act-statistics/#:~:text=According%20to%20this%20news%20article,care%20coverage%20through%20Obamacare%20Act
Sample Answer 4 for NURS 6050 LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) (2023) asserts that over 2 million Americans have type 1 diabetes with American Indians and Alaskan Native adults comprising 13.6% of all prevalence. Legislation to reduce the prevalence of the disease among racial minorities, especially American Indians and Alaskan Natives is essential to addressing the problem and improving health and wellness. The purpose of this paper is to explore proposed legislation on diabetes and its intent. The paper also develops a testimony and advocacy statement to support the proposed bill to reduce the prevalence and adverse effects of diabetes on the population and the health system.
Health-related Bill Name | Special Diabetes Program Reauthorization Act of 2023
|
Bill Number | S. 1855 |
Description | The proposed bill reauthorizes and strengthens important type 1 diabetes research at the National Institute of Health. The bill also renews critical treatment, education, and prevention programs for populations at elevated risk of type 1 diabetes, particularly Native American and Alaska Native communities (Govtrack.us, 2023). These minority native communities experience nearly three times the prevalence of diabetes, including type 2, than the national average. The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) has been running for over 25 years and includes statutory funding for type 1 diabetes and research milestones, which the bill seeks to protect. |
Federal or State? | Federal |
Legislative Intent | The legislative intent of the bill is to expand the funding for SDP research through 2028. Without extension, both programs will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The bill wants funding for both aspects at $170 million for this fiscal year and 2025 |
Proponents/ Opponents | Proponents: Senior Senator for Maine, Susan Collins (Republican) and it is a bipartisan bill enjoying support from Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. Co-sponsors include three Democrats and one Republican
|
Opponents: The bill has no opponents.
| |
Target Population | The bill targets Americans living with diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes among Native Americans. The bill also targets the general population through funding for research programs on diabetes.
|
Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees?) | The bill is at the committee stage with the selected committee preparing a report to the full chamber making recommendations for further consideration. |
General Notes/Comments
| The proposed legislation is essential in addressing diabetes as it is a national health stressor and concern because of its adverse effects emanating from complications (ADA, 2024). Diabetes is a chronic condition that requires resources to manage with over 36 million Americans, especially the racial minority having the condition. |
Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement
The selected proposed bill, Special Diabetes Program” seeks an extension of the current funding for research on diabetes from 2024 to 2028 fiscal years. According to the bill, the funding, $170 million, is critical to continue research and renew critical treatment, education, and prevention programs and activities for at-risk populations, especially Native Americans and Alaska communities (Susan, 2023). Since its inception, the SDP and research on type 1 diabetes for Indians have developed and delivered critical resources and research milestones for individuals with type 1 diabetes (Agarwal et al., 2020). Therefore, protecting these gains and expanding resources to improve accessibility to treatment, education, and prevention activities is important. The proposed bill is critical in advancing these gains and helping reduce the burden of diabetes in general and type 1 diabetes in particular.
Social determinants of income, age, education, and education affect the proposed legislation in several ways. Firstly, income hinders access to health care and health-seeking behavior among Americans, especially racial minorities. Secondly, a significant number of those affected by diabetes comprise individuals from racial minorities and with low income (Akturk et al., 2021). Furthermore, they do not have health insurance and have limited resources to manage diagnosed diabetes. American Indians and Alaskan Native adults have the highest prevalence rates for diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes. Therefore, social determinants of health (SDOH) influence this legislation as it is meant to increase education and access to treatment as well as preventive services for racial minorities (Haw et al., 2021). The proposed bill ensures increased funding and extension of the current research program on diabetes management in the country.
The proposed legislation is a bipartisan approach with limited opposition. However, opponents to my position should understand that diabetes is a serious health concern for the U.S. healthcare system because of its adverse effects and complications. The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) has delivered major successes and breakthroughs in managing diabetes and offering appropriate resources (Govtrack.us. 2023). Therefore, continued funding based on the extension of the program and its related activities should be supported to increase its effectiveness and attainment of set goals. The program is essential in lowering the effects of diabetes on different populations.
Conclusion
Legislation is essential in developing policies and interventions to address health stressors that impact the healthcare system and health populations. The proposed bill on diabetes will help reduce the disease burden in the target population and lower the overall cost burden of diabetes among racial minority communities. The legislation is critical to enhance research and develop evidence-based practices in clinical settings to reduce and manage diabetes.
References
Agarwal, S., Kanapka, L. G., Raymond, J. K., Walker, A., Gerard-Gonzalez, A.,
Kruger, D., … & Long, J. A. (2020). Racial-ethnic inequity in young adults with type 1 diabetes. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 105(8): e2960-e2969. DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa236
Akturk, H. K., Agarwal, S., Hoffecker, L., & Shah, V. N. (2021). Inequity in racial-
ethnic representation in randomized controlled trials of diabetes technologies in type 1 diabetes: critical need for new standards. Diabetes Care, 44(6), e121. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc20-3063
American Diabetes Association (ADA) (2024). Statistics about Diabetes.
https://diabetes.org/about-diabetes/statistics/about-diabetes
Collins, S. (2023). Collins, Shaheen Introduce Reauthorization of Special
Diabetes Program. https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/collins-shaheen-introduce-reauthorization-of-special-diabetes-program
Govtrack.us. (2023). S. 1855: Special Diabetes Program Reauthorization Act of
Haw, J. S., Shah, M., Turbow, S., Egeolu, M., & Umpierrez, G. (2021). Diabetes
complications in racial and ethnic minority populations in the USA. Current diabetes reports, 2(1):1-8. DOI: 10.1007/s11892-020-01369-x