1.Discuss health care disparities. Why do these exist? Have you ever experienced a health care disparity?
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policychoiceworksheet_week2_1_answer2.docxHCS 455 Policy Choice Worksheet
Please complete all questions in this worksheet and answer the questions thoroughly, with the use of sources where indicated, and wherever else you feel is necessary.
What policy have you chosen?
The Contraceptive Mandate- Requires employers to provide contraceptives to employees, without copays or deductibles (with some small exceptions).
Have you reviewed the requirements for the weeks 3 and four policy process paper assignments, and will your topic work for these assignments?
Yes I have reviewed, and my topic concurs with the health policies.
Give a brief history of your policy and its development (200-300 words)
The contraceptive mandate policy was both a state and a federal government regulation. It is an Act that requires the employers, health insurers, or their employees having the health insurance to cover the cost of contraception in the insurance plans. In the year 1978 the ruling Congress outlined that, discrimination based on pregnancy was discrimination on the sex. The U.S Congress in the year 1998 and 1999 introduced legislation that required the insurance companies to start offering the employees with affordable contraceptive similar to how they helped people access affordable prescriptive medicines (The United States, 1998). In 2000 a ruling was made by the Equal employment opportunity commission, and it provided insurance for the prescription to employees and this did not include the birth control and hence it violated with the Civil Rights Act 1964 (Rengel, 2000). In the year 2010 President, Obama appended signature on the Patient Protection and Affordable Act, and this saw the contraception policy added on the Act to the list of preventive interventions provided without the patient payment.
According to Adams (2009) before the federal law implementation, 288 states were using their insurance that mandated covering the prescription contraceptives. In this case, the federal government ruling forbid the insurance company charging some cost to the clients (Adams, 2009). Under the Affordable Care Act, all the employers with fifty or more full-time employees were required to offered health coverage or payment of substantial amounts. The Act required the insurance to cover all the preventive health services that included all forms of contraceptives permitted by food and drugs administration. The ACA authorizes and mandates the employers to come up with employee wellness programs through reducing premiums for the participating employees. The ruling rose heated debates ranging from the religious groups, the legal, conservatives, and even to individuals (Adams, 2009).
What is the objective of your chosen policy?
The primary of the contraceptive Policy is to ensure the provision of affordable access to health services especially the prescription contraceptives to citizens. In this case, the employers and insurers are required to pay substantial amounts for their employees.
List at least five stakeholder groups affected by your policy
The groups affected by the contraceptive policy include:
• Non-profit religious groups
• The legal stakeholders
• Ethical/societal stakeholders
• Cultural
• Liberal justices stakeholders
References
Rengel, M. (2000). Encyclopedia of birth control. Phoenix, Ariz: Oryx Press.
Adams, M. M. (2009). Perinatal Epidemiology for public health practice. New York: Springer.
