Health Care Policy (Essay Sample)

MN507M2 Competency Assessment Name Institution Course Professor Date Bottom of Form The current Policy The significant health policy issue that has attracted extensive attention and concern is the high cost of prescription medication in the United States. The largest population in the U.S is struggling to access or afford to purchase critical prescriptions, which may help in life-threatening issues of chronic diseases. The consequences of the lack of policies to regulate medication prices result in poor health and increased medical bills. As a change agent in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care, I believe it is crucial to address the high cost of prescription medication and promote legislative changes to help advocate for affordable pharmaceutical prescriptions for all Americans. The Current Policy The prescription medication prices have no policies that provide regulation or price setting in the U.S. It implies that there is no restriction on the medication industry and that they have the power and authority to set their prices. Due to the lack of regulation of price-setting policies, the pharmaceutical business can set prices for their products, which extort the public and leads to high costs for medication needed to save lives. The pharmaceutical industry is independent, and unregulated practices restrict efforts to modify the system for decades. The prescription medication issue is a problem in healthcare and needs to be addressed and implemented as necessary. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (2019), the research found that 79% of residents indicated that prescription pharmaceuticals are excessive and expensive, which makes it unaffordable to meet their healthy lives. It shows that people with pre-existing diseases and in emergencies have poor health quality due to a lack of affordable medication and high prices. The National Center for Health Statistics (2018) revealed that 11.4% of Americans needing medication did not take prescriptions since they could not afford them. The finding shows that prescription medications are urgently needed, and reform is inevitable if the health of Americans is improved. The suggested change The needed changes are implementing policies and legislations that regulate and standardize prescription prices to make them affordable to everyone regardless of socioeconomic status. One of the changes is establishing legislation that ensures the pharmaceutical industry is ready to bargain costs with the government. The government should have the power to engage with pharmaceuticals to determine the prices of drugs in the country. Vincent Rajkumar (2020) indicates that America is the only country with the highest prescription medication prices among the developed countries. Hence, the strategy of negotiating and bargaining is effective and can ensure the prices of drugs are reduced and access increased. According to the Congressional Research Service (2019), the United States prescription drugs are highest compared to Canada, which is 30% lower, and the U.K., which is 70% lower. Another needed reform is to allow Medicare to bargain prescription medication prices. As an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care nurse practitioner, I have realized the elderly need medication for chronic diseases. Since they have limited resources and healthcare, their quality of health is declining. The implication is that they often use these medications, and in the long term, they become financially dependent on family members who cannot afford the drugs. Since most people have Medicare, it makes the organization significant to intervene. Medicare is currently prohibited from bargaining medicine cist with pharmaceutical firms (Basu et al., 2023). Therefore, it is important to establish a regulation that helps the government and Medicare beneficiaries benefit from the ability to bargain prescription prices. Nevertheless, these policy adjustments could have an impact on the economy. According to the pharmaceutical industry, price caps would stifle innovation and lower the development of new medications. They argue that contracts with the government would result in lower drug producer profits, resulting in lower drug producer investment in R&D (Schlander et al., 2021). These concerns are valid, but some solutions do not restrict Americans' access to affordable medications. For instance, the government may incentivize pharmaceutical businesses to invest in R&D while maintaining and enforcing pricing limits. Also, the government may increase funding for fundamental research to promote innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. The cost implications Establishing policies and keeping them in place to reduce the price of prescription drugs and expand access to them would save the healthcare system money in the long run. People are more likely to experience poor health and need expensive medical treatment if they struggle to pay for prescription medications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019), lack of public access and challenges to taking medications as prescribed lead to annual healthcare costs of $100–$300 billion. The Congressional Budget Office (2019) indicated that allowing Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical pricing might result in savings, and the government can reduce ...