Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

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. Assignment: Legislation Comparison Grid Template

To Prepare: Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

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 Comparison Grid; 1- to 2-page Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement)

Part 1: Legislation Comparison Grid

Based on the health-related bill (proposed, not enacted) you selected, complete the Legislation Comparison 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? Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Is it receiving press coverage?

Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement

Based on the health-related bill you selected, develop a 1- to 2-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.

Recommend at least one amendment to the bill in support of your position.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

At least 5 sources used in full assignment. I have attached a blank copy of the grid for part 1. Make sure part 2 is APA format. I will attach 2 examples of this assignment so you can have an idea on how to complete assignment. I will also attach sources you can use. You can also use some of yours just make sure it is accurately sourced. You can pick whatever topic to do this on. Just look up what topic there are a lot of information on. Thank you. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Sources

http://www.senate.gov/senators/leadership.htm

https://www.senate.gov/

https://www.house.gov/

https://www.congress.gov/

DUE MARCH 21

Legislation Comparison Grid Template

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Legislation Comparison Grid Template Legislation Comparison Grid Template Use this document to complete Part 1 of the Module 2 Assessment Legislation Comparison Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Health-related Bill Name Bill Number Description Federal or State? Legislative Intent Proponents/ Opponents Target Population Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees? Is it receiving press coverage?) General Notes/Comments Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2019 S. 286/H.R. 945 Mental Health Access Improvement Act of this bill provides for coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare, which also excludes “services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system and authorizes marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services” (Congress.gov, 2019).

Federal Mental Health Access Improvement Act of This bill provides for coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare. It also excludes such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system and authorizes marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services. Proponents: Bipartisan- Republicans and Democrats support this Bill Opponents: Older adults and the Disabled with mental health illness and opioid abuse “01/31/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 01/31/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. 01/31/2019 Introduced in House” (Congress.gov, 2019). Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 1 PART 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2019 Testimony of Registered Nurse- State of North Carolina December 21, 2019 This testimony is written in response to the concern of nurses working at a medical Center in Eastern North Carolina, serving the population in a vast rural area. As frontline healthcare providers working on a psychiatric inpatient unit, we are accustomed to taking care of seniors admitted with neurological, mental and substance abuse. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

We have seen an influx of patients brought in by family members because the patient has gotten so bad they can’t care for them and they can’t get help from counselors because they won’t get paid by Medicare. Legislation Comparison Grid Template

It is so bad that family member is refusing to take patients home and want the hospital to place them in either Assistant living facility (ALF) or long-term facilities. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Most or if not all these group of patients along the disabled have Medicare which possesses a problem in receiving treatment for mental and substance abuse problems especially in rural areas where the only form of treatment available are from marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor. According to World Health Organization (WHO), 2017, “population age sixty and above “between 2015 to 2050 will dramatically increase from 12% to 22%, with 6.6 % suffering from a neurological disorder and 15% suffers from mental disorder WHO, 2017 pg. Also, Brenes et al. 2017 and Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub), 2019) report shows that seniors living in rural area experience barriers to mental health treatment of out of pocket cost, lack of mental health providers because of billing restrictions from © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

2 Medicaid and Medicare and may not receive payment for services rendered. Brenes et al. 2017 report 59.4 % of seniors with mental illness and opioid abuse do not get assistance because of cost, 37 % relate to the distance from provider, and 27.8 % because providers are not accepting Medicare. This letter is written on behalf of nurses at my facility and myself because we are in favor of passing bill S. 286/H.R. 945 Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2019 however, we endorse an amendment of the bill to include a psychiatrist and advanced nurses. We are glad that everyone has come together to support this bill. References Brenes, G. A., Danhauer, S. C., Lyles, M. F., Hogan, P. E., & Miller, M. E. (2015). Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Barriers to Mental Health Treatment in Rural Older Adults. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry: official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(11), 1172–1178. doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2015.06.002. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4663185/ Congress.Gov (2019). H.R.945 – Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2019 Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/945 Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub), 2019). Barriers to Mental Health Treatment in Rural Areas. The Mental Health in Rural Communities Toolkit. Retrieved from https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/mental-health/about-this-toolkit © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

3 Legislation Comparison Grid Template Legislation Comparison Grid Template Use this document to complete Part 1 of the Module 2 Assessment Legislation Comparison Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Health-related Bill Name Bill Number Description Federal or State? Legislative Intent Proponents/ Opponents Proponents: Opponents: Target Population Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees? Is it receiving press coverage?) General Notes/Comments © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

1 Legislation Comparison Grid Template Legislation Comparison Grid Template Use this document to complete Part 1 of the Module 2 Assessment Legislation Comparison Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement Health-related Bill Name Bill Number Description Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019 H.R.4769 Sponsored by Representative Janice Schakowsky on October 21, 2019, bill mandates the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services “to establish at least one prescription drug plan that is operated by Medicare” (Schakowsky, 2019).

The CMS and secretary of Health and Human Services also must negotiate prices for prescription drugs, as they are currently not able to do so. Federal or State? Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Legislative Intent Federal, as it would affect Americans nationwide. Being that the price of prescription drugs is a huge barrier to Americans getting and continuously taking their medications, the intent of this bill is to ensure the lowest prices possible for drugs covered under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Additionally, the bill also aims to encourage the use of equivalent medications that are more affordable. Proponents/ Opponents Proponents: Donald Trump has proposed that “Medicare pay for certain drug prescriptions drugs based on the prices paid in other advanced industrial countries- a huge change that could save money for the government and for millions of Medicare beneficiaries” (Pear, 2018). Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

This was a promise he made while campaigning for his 2016 election. Target Opponents: Larger drug companies would be opponents of this bill as increasing drug prices is essential to their business. “Pfizer, the bigger U.S. drugmaker, angered Trump by raising prices on July 1 for 40 medicines and vaccines, totaling more than 100 products, with some increases hitting 9 percent” (cbsnews.com, 2018). All American consumers who seek medicinal therapy © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 1 Population Status of the bill (Is it in hearings or committees? Is it receiving press coverage?) 10/21/2019: The bill was introduced to Congress and is in the first stage of the legislative process. 10/21/2019:

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Committee on Ways and Means. This bill does not seem to have a lot of press coverage. No actions have been made with the bill since it’s introduction date on General Notes/Comments October 21, 2019. Once a bill has been introduced to the House, it must be passed by the Senate, and then to the President before it is enacted into law. © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

2 Testimony/Advocacy Statement Good afternoon. My name is Erin Littlepage, and today I will be discussing the importance of passing the H.R.4769 bill, also known as the Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Compared to other highly developed countries with decent healthcare, the United States has substantially higher prices for the cost of drugs. There are many bills that have been introduced to the House of Representatives in order to combat these high prices that we as Americans face every day, and the Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019 bill is especially important. Under the current administration, as of December 18, 2019, Donald Trump has announced plans to allow states to purchase prescription medications from Canada to help lower the costs of Americans purchasing their medications.

The fact that our medications are so expensive, we must go to another country to purchase prescription drugs is a disturbing fact. However, if the plan goes into action, the Medicare expenses will be lowered from state to state which would be a huge push in the right direction of lowering our prescription drug costs (Williams, 2019). Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

There are opponents to the bill, unfortunately. Assignment: Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Large drug companies must increase the prices of medications in order to make a profit for themselves. This does not benefit the American consumer, however. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

So many Americans fail to take their medications as prescribed by their provider because they do not have the money to pay for them. I have worked on Medical Surgical units for my entire nursing career, and the amount of admissions and readmissions based on the mere fact that the patient cannot afford their drugs, and come in with acute symptoms that could be regulated with medication administration, is astounding.

While it appears as if the pharmaceutical © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 3 companies will just continue increasing their drug prices, I think the only way to address these opponents is to have this bill and other bills related to drug pricing passed to Congress and have them take strong action to manage the issue. An amendment I would propose in regard to this bill, is laid out in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation act, which would allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices for drugs under Medicare. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

This in turn, would lower drug prices. Currently, the secretary of HHS is not permitted to negotiate on pricing so they must accept the numbers given by the pharmaceutical company. In conclusion, the high prices of medications will continue to be an issue nationwide as long as Congress sits back and allows pharmaceutical companies to take advantage of innocent Americans. The Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019 will allow the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to keep pricing reasonable for drugs and offer alternatives medications that are of equal value, but of lower price. These companies have time and time again shown their greed, and that a profit is more important than the life of American citizens. Assignment Legislation Comparison Grid Template

This issue is long overdue to be solved and will continue until Congress takes a stand, starting with the passing of this bill and others related to the issue. Legislation Comparison Grid Template

Trump Proposes to Lower Drug Prices by Basing Them on Other Countries’ Costs. Retrieved December 20, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/us/politics/medicare-prescription-drug-coststrump.html. Prescription drug prices rising despite Trump pressure on Big Pharma. (2018, September 24). Retrieved December 20, 2019, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prescription-drug-prices-rising-despite-trump-pressureon-big-pharma/. 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/housebill/4769?q={“search”:[“prescription+drugs”]}&s=7&r=5. 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-prescriptiondrugs-canada-2888113. © 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 5 … Assignment: Legislation Comparison Grid Template