Analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power.
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the extent to which your chosen policy addresses the social justice issue concerning your chosen population and to make recommendations.
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following CSWE EPAS competencies and practice behaviors:
CSWE EPAS Competency 2: Engage diversity and difference in practice.
C2.GP.A: Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences into practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
Related assignment criteria:
Analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, including addressing cultural values, privilege, and power.
Analyze the chosen policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population.
CSWE EPAS Competency 5: Engage in policy practice
C5.GP.B: Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services.
Related assignment criteria:
Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness.
Draw conclusions about the continuing effectiveness of the policy.
CSWE EPAS Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
C5.GP.C: Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
Related assignment criteria:
Analyze the historical issues and context leading up to and including the development of the policy.
Evaluate the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives.
Provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for advocacy and implementation.
Address the following, based on revising the assignments you submitted previously:
Analyze the social justice issue and its connection to the chosen population, addressing cultural values, privilege, and power.
Analyze the chosen policy and its connection to the social justice problem and the targeted population.
Analyze the historical issues and context leading up to, and including, the development of the policy.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the policy, including addressing issues with policy design, implementation practices, and external constraints that inhibit effectiveness.
Evaluate the feasibility of the policy from political, economic, and administrative perspectives.
Conclusion
Provide a brief summary of the current state of the policy’s implementation in regard to the chosen social justice issue and target population.
Draw conclusions based on your analysis about the continuing effectiveness of the policy. What have been the policy’s strengths and weaknesses, and how might these look going forward? Cite specific examples to support your analysis.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Provide recommendations to improve the policy or to replace it with alternative solutions, including a plan for how you will advocate for these changes. Should the policy be replaced, modified, or extended upon?
Justify your recommendations for new policies or revisions with a detailed rationale.
Describe how the new or revised policy for the chosen population will be implemented into policy planning and action.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
The assignment you submit is expected to meet the following requirements:
Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Parts of the paper: Include a title page, table of contents, body of paper, references, and running headers.
Cited resources: A minimum of eight scholarly sources. Most literature cited should be current, with publication dates within the past five years.
Length of paper: 12-16 typed, double-spaced pages.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Requirements: 12-16
Policy Analysis
Vanessa O Moore
Capella University
SKW2200
Dr. Putterman
Aug 20, 2023
Policy Analysis
Development of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Policy.
Historical Background
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a federal policy passed by the federal government of the United States and is equally applicable in every state in the union. The federally imposed rules and regulations governing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) impact the nation’s healthcare systems, insurance markets, and access to healthcare. Although the ACA may interact with state-level regulations like Medicaid expansion, it is fundamentally a federal law that seeks to address healthcare challenges nationally. Before it was passed, there were a lot of urgent issues, such as universal insurance, prejudice towards people with pre-existing conditions, rising healthcare prices, and glaring health inequities. Along with extending coverage, doing away with pre-existing condition exclusion, lowering costs, and promoting preventative care, the ACA sought to improve mental health coverage. It acknowledged the connection between physical and mental health, crucial for underprivileged groups like LGBTQ+ youth who have problems accessing crucial mental health services.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) goals and how they are to be met.
The ACA offered a wide range of innovative services and initiatives to complete its objectives. It launched health insurance markets to make locating and buying inexpensive insurance policies simpler. The coverage of low-income individuals, previously underrepresented in the system, was widened by Medicaid program expansions. Essential health benefits were made mandatory, ensuring complete coverage, including mental health care, prescription medications, and preventive care (Woolhandler & Himmelstein, 2020). The ACA also extended the age at which young adults were eligible for coverage, allowing them to continue their parent’s health plans until they turned 26. Considering the unique difficulties LGBTQ+ youth frequently encountered as they transitioned to adulthood, this clause was especially pertinent to them. The ACA recognized the value of mental health and sought to guarantee fair access to mental health care by prioritizing mental health parity. Promoting diversity and justice for marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ+ children. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which placed a strong emphasis on promoting equity and inclusiveness for underserved groups including LGBTQ+ adolescents, was a major step toward transforming healthcare systems to meet physical and mental health requirements.
The ACA highlights the value of wellness programs and preventive actions in conjunction with these goals. Certain preventive procedures must be covered by insurance plans without cost-sharing, promoting a culture of proactive healthcare-seeking. The ACA intends to improve population health generally and lessen chronic disease’s long-term health and financial effects by encouraging preventative care.
Moreover, the ACA stresses comprehensive care by requiring the coverage of essential medical benefits. The ACA aims to guarantee that people have access to a wide range of medical treatments without experiencing discrimination or restrictions by requiring that insurance plans cover a core set of services, such as preventive care, mental health treatment, and prescription medicines. By prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage or boosting costs in response to pre-existing conditions, the ACA also addresses the long-standing issue of pre-existing condition discrimination. This open-minded approach attempts to increase healthcare equity and accessibility for everyone, regardless of their medical histories.
Lastly, the ACA seeks to improve the standard and integrity of healthcare delivery. It introduces cutting-edge models like accountable care organizations (ACOs) and value-based payment schemes that promote coordinated and effective treatment procedures and improve patient outcomes. Although the ACA has made significant progress toward these objectives, there are still many questions about its effectiveness and potential areas for improvement.
The Effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act (Aca) Concerning the Target Population
How well the ACA has met the needs of your target population.
When addressing the needs of the target population, particularly those of underrepresented populations like LGBTQ+ youth, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made both progress and limitations visible. The ACA’s features, such as the extension of dependent coverage and Medicaid expansion, have helped many people, especially LGBTQ+ adolescents, have better access to healthcare. These initiatives support improving fair healthcare access and lowering inequities.
LGBTQ+ kids have experienced a mixed response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to the report. Although the ACA has improved this underserved group’s access to healthcare through dependent coverage extension and Medicaid expansion, its effectiveness in treating their mental health needs is inconsistent. Despite the requirement for mental health equity, obstacles like discrimination and a lack of cultural competency among healthcare professionals continue to prevent complete mental health support. Additionally, the policy’s efficacy differs between states due to different Medicaid expansion levels, underscoring the necessity of constant access. While the ACA has improved healthcare access for LGBTQ+ children, particularly through insurance provisions, it must address mental health inequities more thoroughly to ameliorate the social justice issues they experience properly.
How ACA improves the social values of the target population
The ACA strives to increase healthcare access and coverage for marginalized people, including LGBTQ+ youth, and so aligns with the principle of inclusion in fulfilling or enhancing the social values of the target group. The program’s goal, which is to decrease the number of people without insurance and offer necessary benefits, acknowledges every citizen’s inherent value and well-being, representing the societal principles of equality and human dignity. A complex picture emerges from the analysis of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) about the social values of LGBTQ+ adolescents. The policy supports inclusivity by enhancing LGBTQ+ youth’s access to healthcare through elements including dependent coverage extension and Medicaid expansion (Dym et al., 2019).
The ACA’s goal of decreasing the uninsured population addresses the social ideal of guaranteeing everyone has equal rights and chances to obtain essential healthcare treatments. The ACA aligns with the social justice concepts and works to eliminate health disparities that disproportionately affect underprivileged people by removing financial obstacles and expanding access to coverage.
Also reflecting the social significance of holistic health, the ACA’s identification of mental health parity as an essential health benefit shows a dedication to addressing individuals’ total well-being. The provisions of the ACA demonstrate an effort to foster the societal ideals of inclusion and equality, and comprehensive treatment for vulnerable populations, including LGBTQ+ people, despite obstacles to completely implementing these benefits.
How ACA adheres to the best practice ethics and standards
A complex issue is revealed when determining how closely the policy complies with best practice ethics and standards. Although the ACA includes requirements for essential health coverage and mental health parity, there are differences in how they are implemented among states and problems with the accessibility of stigma-free and culturally sensitive services. These differences show that the policy must consistently follow the ethics and standards of optimal practice. The fact that there are state-level differences and obstacles emphasizes the necessity for continued work to guarantee that the ACA fully meets the needs of underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ+ adolescents while abiding by moral standards. Although there are gaps, the ACA makes attempts regarding the best practice of ethics and standards (Lame et al., 2021). Mandates for essential benefits and mental health parity demonstrate a commitment to equity, but inconsistent application of best practices across states and the scarcity of culturally competent mental health providers’ points to discrepancies in implementation.
Evaluation of the Feasibility of the Policy
Is ACA Policy Politically, Economically, and Administratively Feasible
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to address the cost of healthcare. By encouraging preventative care and enhancing coverage options, the policy’s provisions attempted to keep costs under control. The ACA’s fiscal viability, however, has generated discussion. Critics claim that some people pay higher premiums, while supporters emphasize the decline in the number of people without insurance (Hein et al., 2018). The ACA’s economic viability is complicated since it aims to balance increasing coverage while containing costs, which frequently necessitates trade-offs and has varying effects on different stakeholders.
The ACA made significant administrative reforms to the healthcare system. Significant administrative reorganization was necessary to administer basic health benefits, expand Medicaid, and establish a health insurance exchange (Rafferty & Wellness, 2018). Although there were difficulties in executing and coordinating these modifications, they were eventually put into place. However, other states choose not to expand Medicaid, which impacts the administrative viability of the policy in those states.
Policy Constraints That Inhibit the Policy from Fully Addressing the Problem for the Chosen Population
Constraints since the passage of the ACA
Key elements are revealed by identifying obstacles that prevent the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from properly addressing healthcare issues for underrepresented people. Medicaid expansion state-by-state variances restrict equal access, notably hurting LGBTQ+ adolescents in states with little insurance (Zanetos & Skipper, 2020). Despite the ACA’s emphasis on mental health parity, the lack of culturally relevant mental health treatments makes it difficult for LGBTQ+ adolescents to receive effective support.
Positive developments since its passage include improved awareness and campaigning, which has sparked more inclusive healthcare conversations. However, there have been attempts to abolish laws due to political opposition, legal difficulties, and economic factors, which could affect minority populations’ access. These shifting limitations continue to impact the ACA’s capacity to improve conditions.
In conclusion, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a revolutionary federal law that has addressed significant issues with the US healthcare system. The ACA has proven its dedication to altering healthcare systems nationally by having a history anchored in urgent need for universal insurance, equal access, and fair treatment of pre-existing diseases. The ACA has set a path toward better healthcare access and improved results by expanding coverage, exclusions, reducing costs, and encouraging preventative care. A lifeline for impoverished populations like LGBTQ+ kids is provided by its emphasis on mental health coverage and acknowledgment of the connection between physical and mental well-being.
References
Dym, B., Brubaker, J. R., Fiesler, C., & Semaan, B. (2019). “Coming out okay.” Proceedings of the ACM on Human-computer Interaction, 3(CSCW), 1–28.
Zanetos, J., & Skipper, A. W. (2020). The effects of health care policies: LGBTQ aging adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 46(3), 9–13.
Rafferty, J., & Wellness. (2018). Ensuring comprehensive care and support for transgender and Gender-Diverse children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 142(4).
Woolhandler, S., & Himmelstein, D. U. (2020). Intersecting U.S. epidemics: COVID-19 and lack of health insurance. Annals of Internal Medicine, 173(1), 63–64.
Hein, L. C., Stokes, F., Greenberg, C. S., & Saewyc, E. (2018). Policy brief: Protecting vulnerable LGBTQ youth and advocating for ethical health care. Nursing Outlook, 66(5), 505–507.
Lame, M., Leyden, D., & Platt, S. L. (2021). Geocode maps spotlight disparities in telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Telemedicine Journal and E-health, 27(3), 251–253.
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