Healthcare cost reduction and insurance reform proposals

¶ … legislators on health care issues and nursing, specifically?

To make healthcare inexpensive through tackling the fast increasing cost of healthcare

Patients ought to have a better access to information about the cost and quality of services offered so that they can make cost-effective and informed decisions about their healthcare. Healthcare providers should make available costs publicly available, particularly for the most sought after procedures. Medicaid, Medicare and other kinds of data should be provided to other independent entities that have the expertise to give superior quality assessments than the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

Several reforms are needed in healthcare to help bring down the costs. These include: enabling more pooling schemes and the sale of insurance across state borders; both of these measures will help bring down the cost of premiums. Moreover, making the tax field level for both individual and employer markets would assist people to buy their own health insurance (Coryn.senate.gov, 2015).

2. People need more options and the choice to go for plans that are most appropriate for their needs

Reforms have to be made to permit employers to create wellness programs with benefits that cover a higher fraction of the price of their employees' premium. These programs should provide incentives to people so that they can take charge of their healthcare at the same time reducing the cost of personal care.

The number of uses of the money in the tax free healthcare savings accounts should be increased. Additionally, people should have the ability to roll over a percentage of their unspent money to the next year (Coryn.senate.gov, 2015).

The federal government should give insurance firms more freedom to make their own insurance packages so as to cut the cost of premiums. For example, not all people have to buy insurance cover for maternity, dental or vision services. Present healthcare plans, such as the Affordable HealthCare Act mandate prostate exams on all policies, even those only for women (who have no prostate). Similarly, single men are required to get maternity care coverage; this coverage is also mandated even for post-menopausal women. Citizens should be given the choice to select an insurance cover that is specific to their needs. Changes should also be made to increase access to inexpensive insurance plans. We should make sure that our legislations encourage persons and businesses to pool their resources together (i.e. via joint health plans) so as to buy insurance in individual markets (Coryn.senate.gov, 2015)

3. Ensure individuals have access to health insurance including those with pre-existing conditions.

Leveling of the tax field for both the individual and employer markets should be done. This will enable persons seeking to buy insurance not to do so at a disadvantage since they currently do not receive any tax benefits for doing so. Aligned tax treatment will make these persons eligible for similar benefits (Coryn.senate.gov, 2015).

Reforms are also needed to enable those with pre-existing conditions to buy affordable insurance. For example, there is a need for changes to be made to the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect and find coverage for persons with pre-existing conditions that are moving to the individual market from the employer market. Another change would be to back State high-risk pools. Individuals should be allowed to buy affordable plans that cater for their specific health care needs (Coryn.senate.gov, 2015).

What are the positions of your federal legislators on health care issues and nursing, specifically?

1. Nurses employed in government hospitals who participate in patient advocacy issues should be protected from retaliation

The Texas Nurses Association are seeking laws to protect government-employed nurses similar protection to that enjoyed by their counterparts in the private sector so as to prevent the loss of wages and other financial damages incurred due to being illegal victimization for being engaged in patient advocacy matters (Willmann, 2013).

2. Prevention of violence against nurses in their workstations

The Texas Nurses Association in conjunction with the Texas Emergency Nurses Association are advocating for laws that will specifically deal with the prevention of violence against their members in their workplaces. The final details of the proposed legislations are still being drafted; however there is specific focus on increasing penalties for assaults against nurses and mandating training in various forms of de-escalation (Willmann, 2013).

To increase the number of primary care Advanced Practice Registered Nurses graduates

One of the interventions made by the TNA was its opposition to SB 1813 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst; this was heard by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on 29th April.

The TNA opposed the bill because it would direct the Texas Medical Board to send the copy of a complaint made to the physician, who has been reported to the board. This action essentially removes confidentiality. The physician's copy would be sent by certified mail or personal delivery and it would include all the required fields for the complaint -- the complainant's name, email address, home and work telephone numbers (Hinson, 2015). This data is required regardless of whether the complainant is a nurse, patient or anyone else.

Providing the reported physician with this identifying information will discourage individuals including nurses from reporting unsafe physicians to the Texas Medical Board. This is quite simply bad policy. Retaliation is a very real concern in this case. This is because physicians are usually in a position of authority within the health care system and often have the power to retaliate against anyone including nurses who report their unsafe activities to the Board. The case of the two nurses in Winkler County who were not only fired, but also charged and arrested because they reported a physician to the Texas Medical Board is one of the examples of retaliation within the state (Hinson, 2015).