HP 609 Week 5 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event
HP 609 Week 5 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event
Summary
This forum talked about health care and medication affordability of American families. The American families are having a hard time paying for their medications while affording their basic necessities. This health care situation is really bad that it has forced patients to buy medication from other countries like Canada because they are cheap there. The participants talked about what needed to be done to solve the high health care cost dilemma. Their suggestions included direct negotiations with pharmaceutical companies, initiating health care laws instead of having executive orders passed.
Analysis
High health care costs in the United States have been very high that they have negatively impacted the economy and the American population at large. Considering the fact that the United States is one of the most developed countries in the world, they are held to high standards in terms of health care accessibility and affordability. However, that is not the case. Compared to other countries, The U.S health care system leaves nothing to be desired.
Looking at statistics of coverage, 43.4 percent of adults aged between 19-64 years of age had been inadequately insured, 12.5 percent went without insurance for the whole year, 9.5 percent had gaps in coverage, with 21.3 percent underinsured (Collins et al., 2020). These percentages show how health coverage lacks among the population. And making matters worse, the affected population is underprivileged and low-income earners.
Availability of Covid -19 testing kits was an issue that was discussed during the forum. When the pandemic started, there were not enough kits. Testing was only done when one showed symptoms, worked in the health care field or had an illness that presented with similar symptoms like Asthma. It is understandable, because this was a new outbreak that we did not know much about, and when testing became available, it was only offered to a limited number of people. So, most people were denied access to testing, which scared people more. People worried about how to keep themselves safe, as they also worried about not being about to be tested for the virus, and worse yet, would they be able to afford the tests if they are not insured. All the people want is to be equally insured so they can get equal medical service if the need were to arise.
Medication affordability was and is still a big problem for the American population. The U.S has more than 30 million diabetic people and most of these patients use at least more than one formulation of insulin (Cefalu et al., 2018). For such a high number of patients,
access to medication such as insulin would be expected to be easily available and accessible. However, the price of such medications is very high that it leaves the patients worried for their health. Others resorted to buying their medication from other countries such as Canada where medication is cheap. If we look into racial backgrounds into Diabetic patients, it is noted that this disease affects most Latinos and African Americans (Cefalu et al., 2018) and these are the same groups that are low-income earners, hence affordability becoming a big problem.
Solving the health care accessibility and affordability issues starts with fixing coverage itself. The fact that everyone has a different kind of coverage for insurance creates a problem. Some access coverage through employers, Affordable Care Act (ACA), private insurance, which makes it hard for those that cannot afford to obtain such insurance. If the government can introduce one type of insurance to cover everyone regardless of their income status, I believe poor people and low-income earners will be able to access and afford their medication, with no worries.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource
Instructions
The Health Policy Event you choose to attend must be related to the current week’s topics.
Please submit your Health Policy Event Log for Week 5 in one Word document to this assignment. Access the for full instructions.
Links to Health Policy Events for this Week
- Suggested Health Policy Forums related to Week 5 topics from the Harvard School of Public Health and/or the Boston University School of Public Health listed in the document.
- Explore more recent .
- Explore more recent .
- Explore the webinars of the .
- Explore the webinars of the
- Explore the webinars of .
- Explore the webinars of .
If you find another event you are interested in attending related to the current week’s topics but are unsure if it would be eligible, email your instructor and ask.
Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.
To Submit Your Assignment:
- Select the Add Submissions button.
- Drag or upload your file to the File Picker.
- Select Save Changes.
Health Policy Event Log Rubric
| Criteria | Exceeds Expectations | Meets Expectations | Needs Improvement | Inadequate | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uses these headings:
|
Log addresses items 1–4.
Posted on time. 15 points |
Log addresses 3 of the 4 items.
Not posted on time. 10 points |
Log addresses 2 of the 4 items.
Not posted on time. 5 points |
Log addresses one of the 4 items.
Not posted on time. 0 points |
15 |
| Uses this heading: My analysis of the issue and its implications for health care (500-750 words). | There is robust analysis and evidence of integration of course content, utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is between 500 and 750 words. 35 points |
There is robust analysis with partial evidence of integration of course content utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is between 500 and 750 words. 30 points |
There is minimal analysis, repeats what participants say, and there is partial evidence of integration of course content utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is fewer than 500 words. 25 points |
There is superficial analysis, repeats what participants say, and there is no evidence of integration of course content utilizing course topics.
Analysis section is fewer than 400 words. 20 points |
35 |
| Integrates course content and readings into analysis | Course content and readings are integrated into analysis.
Two current (within last six months) references are introduced. 25 points |
Course content and readings are partially integrated into analysis.
One current (within last six months) reference is introduced. 20 points |
Course content and readings are minimally integrated into analysis.
One reference (not current) is introduced. 15 points |
There is superficial integration of course content and readings into analysis.
No references are introduced. 10 points |
25 |
| Writing Mechanics and APA Formatting | Few to no writing mechanics or APA errors.
25 points |
Few to several writing mechanics or APA errors.
20 points |
Several to many writing mechanics or APA errors.
15 points |
Many writing mechanics or APA errors.
10 points |
25 |
| Total points | 100 | ||||
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