Final Submission: Policy Memorandum

Final Project Milestone Four

Luz Rodriguez

Southern New Hampshire University

Final Project Milestone Four

Immunization is recommended by the majority of healthcare institutions and practitioners in protecting the public from various infectious diseases (Pope, 2019). Additionally, since immunization is a form of preventive healthcare, the practice ensures that healthcare costs are significantly reduced in the country (Largeron et al., 2015). However, in the case of the State of Evergreen, there is a conflict regarding the issue of immunization. There is proposed legislation that will ensure religion cannot be used to exempt public school children from being immunized. Two counties oppose the legislation while one county supports it. There is also a counterproposal for the legislation that will increase the freedoms of people who do not want to be immunized. In this regard, this paper analyzes this issue by evaluating the needs/interests of the main stakeholders and the legal issues involved.

Needs and Interests of Key Stakeholders

There are five main stakeholders. First, there are the healthcare workers and public-school children. The legislation will directly affect these two stakeholders. Depending on the legislation that is passed, these stakeholders will have to balance between the need to have their freedom such that they can get vaccinated if they want and the need to live in an environment, which positively affects their healthcare outcomes. Second, there is the Evergreen Legislature. The representatives must formulate policies, which offer the greatest benefits to the people of Evergreen, the state’s healthcare outcomes, and the state’s economic wellbeing. Currently, the main legislation is supported by Pine County and objected by Fir and Cedar Counties.

Third, there are the nurses. According to Pope (2019), such individuals desire to operate in a territory that promotes preventive healthcare. More so, nurses are at the forefront of providing healthcare to the public. In Evergreen, nurses feel that the schools in the state lack the necessary finances to enforce the proposed legislation. Therefore, even though they desire to have everyone vaccinated, they feel that the new legislation should outline practical ways of implementing the proposed changes without subjecting the current healthcare facilities to the burden of shouldering the financial costs involved.

Fourth, there are the religious leaders. These individuals oppose the proposed legislation because they feel it will infringe on the citizens' right to religion. Finally, there is the business community. Currently, the preventable outbreaks are adversely affecting tourism and the overall economy of Evergreen. Therefore, the business community supports the proposed legislation since it will result in fewer outbreaks and lead to the improvement of the economy.

Application of Current Healthcare Policies, Laws, and Financing Practices

Currently, there are various policies and laws that guide the issue of immunization across the country. First, there is the issue of the school entrance. All American states have made it mandatory got children to be subjected to specific vaccinations before being allowed to go to public schools (Barraza, Schmit, & Hoss, 2017). However, all states all some children to be exempted from this policy due to medical reasons, 18 states and 47 states exempt children from vaccination for philosophical and religious reasons respectively (Barraza, Schmit, & Hoss, 2017).

Second, there is the issue of healthcare worker vaccination. The relevant laws and policies vary from state to state. Nevertheless, there are four major classes to take note of. Class one covers the laws that make it mandatory for healthcare institutions to evaluate their workers' vaccination status. Class 2 covers the laws that push healthcare institutions to offer their workers vaccination. Class three covers the laws to either get vaccinated or possess valid religion/medical exemptions (Barraza, Schmit, & Hoss, 2017). Class four covers laws that make it mandatory for individuals that lack influenza vaccination to wear surgical masks while working.

Finally, regarding the potential financial ramifications, NCSL (2020) notes that “every $1 spent on childhood immunizations saves $10.20 in avoided costs.” Therefore, although vaccination programs are expensive, they are worthy investments since they result in lower healthcare costs in the long term. Therefore, Evergreen should consider adopting suitable legislation that will see it lower its healthcare costs and improve its economy in the long run.

Probability of Stakeholder Value Conflicts

In the current case, two potential conflicts arise. First, there is the conflict brought about by the freedom of religion. The passing of the proposed law will result in conflict because the right to religion will be blocked for the people who do not wish to be vaccinated on religious grounds. Second, there is the conflict brought about by the right to life. The passing of the second legislation will result in stakeholder conflict because people will be at a higher risk of contracting preventable diseases because fewer people will be getting immunized.

Evaluation of Malpractice Issues and Legal Risks

One major legal risk revolves around the right to religion. Currently, the constitution offers this freedom to everyone. However, the proposed legislation poses a legal risk because if passed, it will conflict with the right to religion when it forces people to be vaccinated even if their religion forbids it. This might make people sue the state for intervening with their religious rights. Malpractice is another major issue during the immunization practice. Considering that the state is not well equipped to handle the current number of immunization procedures, if the proposed legislation passes, the number of people to be immunized will be higher. An overwhelmed healthcare system might lead to malpractice because healthcare workers will be prone to mistakes.

References

Barraza, L., Schmit, C., & Hoss, A. (2017). The latest in vaccine policies: Selected issues in school vaccinations, healthcare worker vaccinations, and pharmacist vaccination authority laws. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 45(1_suppl), 16-19.

Largeron, N., Lévy, P., Wasem, J., & Bresse, X. (2015). Role of vaccination in the sustainability of healthcare systems. Journal of Market Access & Health Policy, 3(1), 27043.

NCSL. (2020, May 14). Immunization policy issues overview. National Conference of State Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/immunizations-policy-issues-overview.aspx

Pope, J. (2019, December 9). Importance of immunizations. Health Link BC. https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/hw255342