HP 609 Week 6 Discussion 1: Pharmaceuticals and Behavioral Health
HP 609 Week 6 Discussion 1: Pharmaceuticals and Behavioral Health
The topic this writer chose is about pharmaceuticals.
Medication pricing has been causing a major obstruction in American health care costs due to its out of control rising. Despite the issue has been on the campaign debate and community discussion, there is still a minimal effect on its rising cost overall. The two policies identified in the article written by Luthra (2019), the Import drugs proposed by Sanders-Cummings and penalize price-gouging backed by multiple democratic leaders.
Import Drugs
This proposed policy is an attempt to enable providers, pharmacies and wholesalers to import medication from other countries where the cost of production is much lesser. The purpose of this policy is to go around the high price of medication manufactured in the U.S. The category of medication is mainly the proven effectiveness of generic medication. If this policy is adopted, it will affect the public skate holders as patients who can pay lower co-payment to daily medication; medicare and medicaid programs can save cost in medication coverage and physicians who potentially increase in medication compliance. The private stakeholders are private insurance companies that can also lower cost in medication coverage; pharmacies may face increased market competitions; Medication wholesale companies may be also blooming related to business profit. The Trump administration advertised this proposal during the presidential campaign. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Klobuchar have a separate bill that is specific to patients getting medicine from Canada alone (Luthra. 2019). This proposed policy will be benefiting the chronic ill patients. For example, one vial of Humalog cost $339 in the U.S while pharmacy in Canada sells as $129 Canadian dollar in 2019(Rajkumar, 2020). If the U.S is able to initiate this policy, the cost is reduced in insulin alone is a tremendous saving for both insurances and patients.
Penalize Price-gouging
This proposed policy is backed by multiple democratic leaders and had already taken effect in Massachusetts as of 3/20/2020. According to Luthra (2019), “This policy mainly targets the manufacturers who raise drug prices more than 30 percent in five years. Punishments could include requiring the company to reimburse those who paid the elevated price, forcing the drug maker to lower its price, or charging a penalty up to three times what a company received from boosting the price”(Luthra, 2019). This policy again will benefit public stakeholders as payers (Including patients and insurance), government funding insurance programs and healthcare providers. The private stakeholder as the manufacturer who is aiming for profit making will be least pleased by the policy. Beside the politicians as Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), according to Luthra (2019), the policy played an important role in state economic regulation. Per Chakraborti & Roberts (2020), the Anti-price Gouging law was critical in controlling the skyrocketing price of sanitizers, Vitamin C, mask…etc. during the Covid pandemic.
Conclusion
The intention of policy is essential in designing the proposal direction. The benefit of the free market is to encourage competition in order to lower prices, but it will fail its purpose when monopoly comes in to dominate the market. Both Import drugs and anti-price gouging will benefit both economic and public medicine taker in financial burdens. There is also risk adding to it as a quality concern since the importer will also be a business who is aiming for profit making. The need to address this potential issue should be addressed before policy is adopted.
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
Reference
Chakraborti, R., & Roberts, G. (2020). Anti-price gouging laws, shortages, and COVID-19: big data insights from consumer searches.
Luthra, S. (January 2019). Drug-Pricing Policies Find New Momentum As “A 2020 Thing.” Kaiser Health News. Retrieved from https://khn.org/news/drug-pricing-policies-find-new-momentum-as-a-2020-thing/.
Rajkumar, S. V. (2020). The High Cost of Insulin in the United States: An Urgent Call to Action
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Volume 95, Issue 1, 22 – 28
Due: In an effort to facilitate scholarly discourse, create your initial post by Day 4, and reply to at least two of your classmates, on two separate days, by Day 7.
Note: In this type of discussion, you will not see the responses of your classmates until after you have posted your own response to the question below.
Initial Post
Select one topic below to write about in your initial post. Please make it clearly which topic you chose to write about in your initial post. Write 500 to 750 words related to:
- Pharmaceuticals: What two public policies have been recently proposed or adopted to support proper access to medications for all consumers, fair pricing, and reasonable regulation of new drugs coming to market? Who are the private and public stakeholders? Name some organizations advocating for policy changes.
- Behavioral Health: What two public policies have been recently proposed or adopted to improve access to behavioral health services and treatment? Who are the private and public stakeholders? Name some organizations pushing for policy changes.
Cite additional sources beyond the Learning Materials for this week.
Replies
Reply to at least two of your classmates. In your reply posts, each reply should be on a topic different from the one you chose to write about. Each reply should be 200 to 400 words. You should cite at least one to two sources that add new information in response to your classmate’s post.
Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.
Posting to the Discussion Forum
- Select the appropriate Thread.
- Select Reply.
- Create your post.
- Select Post to Forum.
Nice post Qi! It was very informative, and helpful. I find the idea of pharmaceutical price gouging so unethical. I recently heard of a new drug available to those with primary hyperoxaluria. It is a rare liver disease that causes oxalate to build up and damage the kidneys, causing renal failure. The new medication is $ 500,000. A half a million dollars! When I inquired to one of the researchers about it, they said the company looks at it as a costs savings, since the individual will no longer require hemodialysis. I am not sure if that really is financially true, but either way, it seems like predatory pricing. I hope there is application in the price gouging policy you mention for the initial use as well. I just wanted to mention that, but really wanted to reply more in way of your imported pharmaceutical policy that you also refer too.
Importation is a two-way street. Even though the U.S. may benefit greatly in some ways by importing pharmaceuticals from Canada, the U.S. drug importation policy may not actually benefit Canada at all. They have very little to gain. Which brings in the feasibility of such policies other than for political soundbites. In an ongoing assessment prior to that policy, Canadian physicians and patients have been struggling with drug shortages for many years (Rawson & Binder, 2017). The legislation proposed in the United States for affordable and safe importation of drugs from Canada could accelerate our northern neighbor’s shortages of drugs in their own
country, therefore leaving the U.S scrambling for resources because of its policy induced over-reliance. The interesting article, points out that because the U.S. does not have price regulation or price control, it was estimated that 8% of respondents to a 2016 survey of American adults imported a prescription drug at one point (Rawson & Binder, 2017). Another important point that the article, albeit 4 years old but is just as relevant today, is who is going to oversee such a huge task of importing those drugs? The FDA lacked the resources in 2017 for such a major importation program (Rawson & Binder, 2017) and that was pre-COVID 19 vaccine and during a Republican administration. I am not sure even with the change of administration, and push for this policy that the Canadians will be fully on board. If they are, will it be at the expense of their own citizens for the idea of more American funds? After reading the Canadian author’s point of view, and the corresponding response from the Canadian Board of Directors at Partnership for Safe Medicine, I would say I have to agree. Canada’s drug supply is not a reasonable fix for our homegrown pharmaceutical pricing problem.
Rawson, N. S.B. & Binder, L. (2017) Importation of drugs into the United States from Canada. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 189 (24).
487 words
Mental Health
There is a policy that is in the works, it was submitted back in 2019 and is waiting for approval. This policy is called RISE from Trauma. It stands for Resilience, Investment, Support, and Expansion. The Act is requesting $4 million in grants over a period of four years. The money would go to coordinating and strategic planning to resolve trauma-based community needs. For a start, they would improve comprehensive and long-term services for those who have had suicide attempts, drug overdoses, and have been violently injured. It would also ensure that mental health is covered under state health insurance policies. Furthermore, it would address reporting requirements for federal programs to address trauma, just to name a few key points (H.R.3180 – RISE from Trauma Act, 2019). If this bill were to get passed, the money could go to trauma-informed care training for employees that work in mental health settings as a part of the improving comprehensive services clause of the act. In addition, if there are improvements made about reporting protocols, then a more accurate depiction of trauma cases can be brought to light in order to draw attention to this issue from the government. With more government involvement, there can be even more funding for mental health in the future. As someone who has worked in a non-profit mental health facility, I know the implications that extra funding could have for the patients. For example, many of the physical aspects of the facilities are outdated and not the safest of designs. Another issue is that most of the patients would only get one or two therapy sessions a week, which is not nearly enough for the amount of trauma they need to work through. Extra funding would give facilities more capacity to pay their clinical therapists for more time with patients or pay for additional staff to be able to give more of their time for patient interaction.
The second policy I have come across is the Mental Health Parity Compliance Act. This Act is also still in progress and had its last hearing in June of 2020 (H.R.3165 – Mental Health Parity Compliance Act, 2019). This Act is a revision of the Wellstone and Domenici Mental Health Parity Act. The original act allowed group health plans to cover mental health with no less than the same provisions of medical/surgical health coverage (The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) | CMS, 2009). The revision is asking for private health insurance plans to provide a comparative analysis of nonquantitative treatment limitations. Simply put, the mental health organizations and associations want to see what information the health coverage plans are using to determine the services covered. This Act seems like a stepping stone into making another act in the future. Once insurance companies provide this information, if it is not deemed sufficient, there is a high chance of another Act being proposed to have the nonquantitative treatment limitations be reevaluated to fit the needs of the community.
References:
H.R.3165 – Mental Health Parity Compliance Act (H.R.3165). (2019, June). Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3165
H.R.3180 – RISE from Trauma Act (H.R.3180). (2019, June). Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3180
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) | CMS. (2009). CMS. https://www.cms.gov/cciio/programs-and-initiatives/other-insurance-protections/mhpaea_factsheet
Graduate Program in Health Administration Discussion Question Rubric
Note: The value of each of the criterion on this rubric represents a point range (example: 25–20 points, 20–15 points, 15–10 points, 10–0 points).
| Criteria | Exceeds Expectations | Meets Expectations | Needs Improvement | Inadequate | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality of Initial Post | Initial post is on time and of the correct length (500–750 words).
All components of the initial post requirements are addressed. Course content synthesis is applied. References are included according to the Discussion instructions. 25 points |
Initial post is on time and of the correct length (500–750 words).
Most components of the initial post requirements are addressed. Course content synthesis is applied but limited. References are included according to the Discussion instructions. 20 points |
Initial post is one day late.
Does not meet the correct length (500–750 words). Some components of the initial post requirements are addressed. Course content synthesis is weak or missing. References are included but not according to the Discussion instructions. 15 points |
Initial post is more than one day late.
Initial post much fewer than (500–750 words). Few components of the initial post requirements are addressed. Course content synthesis is missing. References are not included. 10 points |
25 |
| Peer Replies | On time.
There was substantial evidence and synthesis of course content utilizing course topics and the introduction of questions and new information. Replies are 200–400 words. References are included according to the Discussion instructions. 25 points |
On time. There was some evidence and synthesis of course content utilizing course topics and the introduction of questions or new information.
Replies are 200–400 words. References are included according to the Discussion instructions. 20 points |
There was either some synthesis of course content or the introduction of questions or new information.
Replies are less than 200 words. References are included but not according to the Discussion instructions. 15 points |
There was little or no evidence of course content utilizing course topics or the introduction of questions or new information.
Replies are less than 200 words References are not included. 10 points |
25 |
| Frequency of Contribution | Initial post with two peer replies posted on two separate days.
25 points |
Initial post with two peer replies posted on the same day.
20 points |
Initial post with one peer reply.
15 points |
Only initial post submitted or only replied to peers.
10 points |
25 |
| Organization, Writing Mechanics, and APA Format | Clearly organized, no or limited writing mechanics and/or APA errors.
25 points |
Clearly organized, few to some writing mechanics and/or APA errors.
20 points |
Poorly organized, several to moderate writing mechanics and/or APA errors.
15 points |
Poorly organized, many writing mechanics and/or APA errors.
10 points |
25 |
| Total points | 100 | ||||
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