Policies for a Better Environment Research

Policies for a Better Environment Research

Research public health issues on the \”Climate Change\” or \”Topics and Issues\” pages of the American Public Health Association (APHA) website. Investigate a public health issue related to an environmental issue within the U.S. health care delivery system and examine its effect on a specific population. Policies for a Better Environment Research

Write a 750-1,000-word policy brief that summarizes the issue, explains the effect on the population, and proposes a solution to the issue.

Follow this outline when writing the policy brief:

1) Describe the policy health issue. Include the following information: (a) what population is affected, (b) at what level does it occur (local, state, or national), and (c) evidence about the issues supported by resources.

2) Create a problem statement.

3) Provide suggestions for addressing the health issue caused by the current policy. Describe what steps are required to initiate policy change. Include necessary stakeholders (government officials, administrator) and budget or funding considerations, if applicable.

4) Discuss the impact on the health care delivery system.

Include three peer-reviewed sources and two other sources to support the policy brief.

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Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

Climate Change

Climate change is known for, among other things, its effect on environmental and social determinants of health. This includes safe drinking water, clean air, secure shelter, and sufficient food. Between 2030 and 2050, it is projected that climate change will cause nearly 250,000 additional deaths annually from malaria, malnutrition, diarrhea, and heat stress (Afolayan et al., 2020).  The direct damage resulting from climate change, including the cost of health-determining sectors like sanitation, water, and agriculture, is estimated to be between $2 and $4 billion by 2030 (Eckelman and Sherman 2016). Countries across the globe with weak health infrastructure are believed to be the least able or positioned to cope without assistance to prepare for these effects and respond to the above effects. Over the last 50 years, human activities have released sufficient quantities of Carbon IV Oxide and other greenhouse gasses, especially though burning fossil fuels to trap additional heat in the lower atmosphere, thus affecting the global climate. While global warming could bring some isolated benefits, such as fewer winter deaths and increased food production in some places, the overall health effects are mostly adverse. Policies for a Better Environment Research

Problem Statement

Several countries have recorded a notable increase in cases of respiratory diseases as an effect of climate change. These diseases are a function of air pollution that causes and aggravates chronic respiratory illnesses such as asthma (Sen, et al., 2017).

Policy

Several policy instruments that can be used can be useful in putting a price on GHG emissions. These include the removal of environmentally harmful subsidies, carbon or energy taxes, and tradable permit schemes. The project-based flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has also been useful to this effect. While all countries belonging to The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have in place one or more of the above instruments, a priority to extend their use across the globe and provide a consistent price signal across every greenhouse gas. The development of a global carbon price will not only ensure the reduction of the total cost of reducing these emissions, but it will also help in leveling the playing field between different countries, thereby addressing concerns regarding the potential effect of constant competition on climate change policies (Eckelman et al., 2018).

Several paths exist governments can use that in pricing carbon, which would all lead to the same end. The journey begins by capturing the external cost of carbon emissions. These are the costs that the public currently pays for in healthcare costs and damage to crops or poverty resulting from sea-level rise and droughts. These costs will then be tied to their sources through a price on carbon. This price will help in shifting the damage back to the companies and industries that are responsible for them, thereby forcing them to reduce it. The polluters will thereby have to decide between reduce emissions, discontinue their polluting activity, or continue polluting and pay for it. This way, the environment, and health goals will be achieved in the least-cost and most flexible way to society. The price of carbon will also stimulate market innovation, clean technology, and low carbon divers of economic growth. Policies for a Better Environment Research

Impact on the Health Care Delivery System

The overall effect of the above policy is rather forward. As stated above, diseases resulting from climate change and carbon emissions have an associated healthcare burden. If the above policy is enacted across the globe, thereby reducing the carbon footprint. The healthcare burden resulting from diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus, cholera, and Lyme disease immense and cab be reduced through the above initiative. Furthermore, the policy will reduce the effects of extreme weather on healthcare. Extreme weather events are known to disrupt infrastructure, including transportation, utilities, and communication systems that are critical to the maintenance of emergency services as well as healthcare (Hussey and Arku 2019).

References

Afolayan, O. T., Okodua, H., Oaikhenan, H., & Matthew, O. (2020). Carbon emissions, human capital investment and economic development in Nigeria. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 10(2), 427.

Eckelman, M. J., & Sherman, J. (2016). Environmental impacts of the US health care system and effects on public health. PloS one, 11(6), e0157014.

Eckelman, M. J., Sherman, J. D., & MacNeill, A. J. (2018). Life cycle environmental emissions and health damages from the Canadian healthcare system: an economic-environmental-epidemiological analysis. PLoS medicine, 15(7), e1002623.

Hussey, L. K., & Arku, G. (2019). Conceptualizations of climate-related health risks among health experts and the public in Ghana. Social Science & Medicine, 223, 40-50.

Sen, B., Dhimal, M., Latheef, A. T., & Ghosh, U. (2017). Climate change: health effects and response in South Asia. bmj, 359, j5117.

Federal Contraceptive Coverage Guarantee

One of the health policy advances brought about by the Affordable Care Act pertains to the requirement that most health plans across the country include coverage of contraceptive services and methods. The above federal contraceptive coverage guarantee was put in place to build on older coverage policies in nearly twenty-five states. It also builds on a groundbreaking ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that took place in December of 2000 (Tschann and Soon 2015). The ruling stated that denying contraception coverage in a medical health plan that covers prescription drugs and other preventive services is a form of sex discrimination.

Contraceptive use benefits not only women but also families in general. Contraceptives enable couples and women to not only prevent unwanted pregnancies but also plan for pregnancies that they want and space them out (Kavanaugh et al., 2020). This, in turn, has significant health benefits. For one, the spacing of pregnancies reduces the risk of low birth weight and premature birth. Secondly, the prevention of unwanted pregnancies helps some women manage health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease and avoid depression (Politi et al., 2016). Furthermore, according to studies, contraceptives enable women to finalize their education, get a good job, keep it, support themselves and their families, and invest in their children’s future (McMorrow et al., 2018). Policies for a Better Environment Research

Problem Statement

While federally enforced, the above policy is hindered by the fact that while new health insurance plans across the country needed to have applied it by the 1^st of August 2012, grandfathered plans did not have to comply unless the plan has changed substantially. This means that some women are excluded from the benefits of the policy.

Suggestions for Addressing the Health Issue Caused By the Current Policy

As stated above, grandfathered plans are not required to comply with the above federal policy unless they substantially change. For a group plan to be grandfathered, it needs to have existed before the act was signed into law by President Obama. This is the case for individual policies as well. It is worth noting that before the law was put in place, 28 states had their own mandates requiring health insurance to cover the contraceptive prescription. However, the federal mandate was more innovative by forbidding insurance companies from charging any costs to the patient (Gómez and Arcara, 2018).

To ensure that all insured people benefit from the above mandate, this response recommends through eliminating the grandfather policy from the law. To initiate policy change for the removal of the grandfather policy, it would be essential to point out to employers that when they have to administer both grandfathered plans and plans that are approved under the Affordable Care Act, they need to keep two different administration approaches active. This, in turn, results in added costs. Employers that are currently keeping grandfathered policies alive, thus preventing their employees from getting contraceptive prescription coverage, are therefore not doing so under a supportive cost-cutting measure (Sonfield, 2017).

Employers need to be educated on more effective options for keeping the cost of health plans under control while still remaining compliant with the Affordable Care Act. Once employers are well versed with cost-cutting techniques, it will eliminate their interest in the grandfather policy, thus deeming it redundant. There is, however, the exception of employers who cling to this policy for a religious reason. Nurse leaders should spearhead the above initiative as nurses have significant face-to-face interaction with patients who have been excluded from this benefit of the ACA. Nurses have experienced the hardships experienced by these individuals and can, therefore, speak for them (Sobel et al., 2017). Other stakeholders will include advocacy groups and policymakers who understand the importance of contraceptives not only to the individual family unit but to the entire healthcare delivery system. The United States has several sexual and reproductive health charities and non-profit organizations that can aid in such a campaign at no cost to other stakeholders.

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The Impact on the Health Care Delivery System

A coverage guarantee for contraceptive prescription promises to impact the whole health care delivery system positively. For one, it will reduce the burden resulting from conditions arising from unwanted pregnancies such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and depression. Every year, between 700 and 900 women in the United States die from complications related to childbirth and pregnancy. For every woman that dies, nearly 70 suffer organ failure, hemorrhages, and other complications. This amounts to over 1% of all births in the country. The yearly cost of the above near-deaths to women, family members, taxpayers, and the health care delivery system runs into the billions. Guaranteed coverage for contraceptives can help ease the overhead burden and save lives (Lubash, 2018). Policies for a Better Environment Research

References

Gómez, A. M., & Arcara, J. (2018). Privately Insured Women’s Expectations of Contraceptive Access without the Affordable Care Act and the Influence of State Contraceptive Equity Protections. Social Service Review, 92(3), 349-368.

Kavanaugh, M. L., Douglas-Hall, A., & Finn, S. M. (2020). Health insurance coverage and contraceptive use at the state level: findings from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Contraception: X, 2, 100014.

Lubash, L. (2018). Examining the Effects of the Contraceptive Coverage Essential Mandate on Unintended Pregnancy Rates Pre-and Post-Implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Politi, M. C., Sonfield, A., & Madden, T. (2016). Addressing challenges to implementation of the contraceptive coverage guarantee of the affordable care act. Jama, 315(7), 653-654.

Sobel, L., Salganicoff, A., & Rosenzweig, C. (2017). The Future of Contraceptive Coverage. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Sonfield, A. (2017). What is at stake with the federal contraceptive coverage guarantee? Guttmacher Policy Review, 20(8).

McMorrow, S., Johnston, E. M., Karpman, M., & Gates, J. A. (2018). Does expanded access to contraceptive coverage improve educational attainment for women?

Tschann, M., & Soon, R. (2015). Contraceptive coverage and the affordable care act. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics, 42(4), 605-617. Policies for a Better Environment Research