Week 2 Discussion Health Policy

Author Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Number and Name

Instructor’s Name

Due Date
1

Week 2 Discussion Health Policy

Introduction

Nursing is delicate and requires in-depth attention to detail when administering care. Part

of the reason is that nurses care for patients' lives and perform health restoration activities. This

also means that the smallest mistake can affect a patient significantly (Zewde & Wimer, 2019).

Governments globally are also committed to ensuring quality patient care, hence the

development of health policy initiatives that guide health practitioners' decisions and actions.

Medicaid is an example of governmental efforts to ensure the accessibility and affordability of

quality healthcare services. This paper explores health policy initiatives and the eligibility

criteria for Medicaid in different states.

Health Policy Initiatives and How They Guide Clinical Practices of Advanced

Nurses

Advanced nurses are valuable in healthcare because they possess extensive nursing

knowledge, especially in their respective specialization areas. Examples include family nurses,

nurse educators, nurse informaticists, nurse educators, and clinical specialists (Yan et al., 2021).

The nature of the roles requires attention to detail, hence the development of health policy

initiatives and guidelines. For instance, the American Nursing Association (ANA) requires all

family nurse practitioners, especially those providing home-based care to not invade patients'

privacy and always respect patients' wishes (Wranik et al., 2019). The policy ensures that

patients maintain their independence and family nurses perform their roles well.

Another equally significant health policy initiative requires all advanced nurses, like

family nurses, to have valid licenses and certificates before seeking employment at any

healthcare facility (Toyoda et al., 2020). The policy guides my practice as a family nurse because
2

it requires me to continuously update my license to enable me to perform my duties and

responsibilities anytime, which I always look forward to. Aside from that, it also prevents

advanced nurses from performing roles that are beyond their respective specialization areas. For

example, a family nurse with a family nursing license cannot perform physicians' roles.

Disregarding the policy can be regarded as misconduct, potentially leading to the termination of

one's license.

In addition to that, the World Health Organization (WHO) requires nurses to provide a

safe and healthy environment for patients to heal and recover (Olfson et al., 2018). The policy is

critical because patients' environment can determine their healing rate. For instance, it is

improper for nurses, including advanced nurses, to speak and laugh loudly when caring for

patients, especially when they are resting. Such cases can result in dismissal because such

behaviors interrupt patients' rest, potentially delaying their healing process and comfort.

Therefore, nurses should ensure that their actions, decisions, and behaviors contribute to the

betterment of patient's health and wellbeing.

Medicaid Eligibility Criteria

Finding affordable and quality health insurance can be challenging; hence nearly three-

quarters of the American population rely on Medicaid. It caters to a percentage of healthcare

costs, allowing patients who cannot afford private healthcare the chance to get optimal healthcare

services (Toyoda et al., 2020). However, different states have different eligibility criteria,

making it critical to understand them before applying. For example, eligibility in Alabama covers

adults over 65, persons with disabilities, parents, pregnant women, and children but does not

cover low-income adults.

3

On the other hand, eligibility in Alaska includes low-income adults, pregnant women,

children, disabled persons, persons over 65 years, and parents or caretakers (Zewde & Wimer,

201). Eligibility in Arizona also includes low-income adults, parents, pregnant women, children,

persons with disabilities, and adults above 65. Therefore, the common eligibility factor between

the three states is that all regard children, pregnant mothers, persons over 65 years, parents, and

disabled persons as eligible for Medicaid. However, Medicaid in Alaska and Arizona differs

from Alabama in the sense that Alabama does not accept low-income earners in the program.

Implications of the Criteria

As mentioned earlier, affordability is a significant issue for the majority of Americans

seeking healthcare services. Therefore, programs like Medicaid take a significant weight off

those wishing to access quality healthcare services but cannot do so (Olfson et al., 2018). A

major implication of concern for low-income earners. This means that low-income earners must

look for alternatives to get adequate finance to support their medical needs and services. For the

other two states, low-income earners can breathe easily because Medicaid covers them partially.

However, a positive implication for residents of the three states is that the elderly,

pregnant women, children, the disabled, and parents will spend less when receiving care because

of Medicaid coverage. The assistance affects residents significantly because one will not worry

about wanting healthcare services but failing to access them because of affordability and other

cost-related factors.

Conclusion

In summary, everyone desires quality healthcare services, but accessing them is not

always easy. Programs like Medicaid are helpful and promote good health in the country. The

paper also reveals that advanced nurses know, understand, and implement health policy
4

initiatives that affect their role. Therefore, healthcare facilities and leaders should play their part

by offering regular training to ensure that advanced nurses understand the latest health policies

and know how to implement them respectfully and effectively.

5

References

Olfson, M., Wall, M., Barry, C. L., Mauro, C., & Mojtabai, R. (2018). Impact Of Medicaid

Expansion On Coverage And Treatment Of Low-Income Adults With Substance Use

Disorders. Health Affairs, 37(8), 1208–1215. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0124

Toyoda, Y., Oh, E. J., Premaratne, I. D., Chiuzan, C., & Rohde, C. H. (2020). Affordable Care

Act State-Specific Medicaid Expansion: Impact on Health Insurance Coverage and Breast

Cancer Screening Rate. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 230(5), 775–783.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.01.031

Wranik, W. D., Price, S., Haydt, S. M., Edwards, J., Hatfield, K., Weir, J., & Doria, N. (2019).

Implications of interprofessional primary care team characteristics for health services and

patient health outcomes: A systematic review with narrative synthesis. Health Policy,

123(6), 550–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.03.015

Yan, L. D., Ali, M. K., & Strombotne, K. L. (2021). Impact of Expanded Medicaid Eligibility on

the Diabetes Continuum of Care Among Low-Income Adults: A Difference-in-

Differences Analysis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 60(2), 189–197.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2020.08.013

Zewde, N., & Wimer, C. (2019). Antipoverty Impact Of Medicaid Growing With State

Expansions Over Time. Health Affairs, 38(1), 132–138.

https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05155