Medicaid is a government-run health insurance initiative that was established in 1965. It offers medical care to low-income individuals and families, encompassing coverage for newborns, adults, pregnant women, elders, and persons with disabilities. The provinces and the federal government are contributing equally to the cost of funding this program. Within the parameters outlined by the federal government, Medicaid is administered independently within every state. Since the federal standards are so general, every jurisdiction has considerable flexibility in developing and managing its programs. As a direct consequence, Medicaid eligibility requirements and reimbursements may and frequently differ substantially from one state to the next.
Children make up over two-fifths of those enrolled in the Medicaid program, although they only contribute one-fifth of the program’s overall cost. Even though the elderly and individuals with disabilities make up just one-fifth of Medicaid program enrollment, they are responsible for roughly half of all Medicaid expenditures. This is since these populations need more extensive medical treatment (Bitler and Zavodny, 2017). The Medicaid initiative is a counter-cyclical policy. Its membership increases to meet increased demands through economic downturns when individuals are more likely to lose their employment and traditional job-based free healthcare. More than ten million new individuals, about half of whom were children, registered in Medicaid directly because of the Great Recession from 2007-2009 and its repercussions (Couch et., 2018). Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic national health and financial crisis, the number of people enrolled in Medicaid increased and will continue to increase over the next few months. Therefore, the Medicaid initiative will protect millions of individuals who lose their jobs or incomes from being uninsured.
Since Medicaid is known as an “entitlement” initiative, it implies that everyone who satisfies the criteria for enrollment in the program has the legal right to do so. Additionally, it ensures that states would get financial assistance from the federal government to cover a portion of the expenses of their Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicaid is not available to everyone with a low income, even those who qualify. Individuals over the age of 21 who reside in the 15 states in the United States which have not adopted the Expansion of Medicaid provisions of the Affordable Care Act are not eligible for Medicaid regardless of how low their income levels are, except those who are pregnant, older adults, taking care of children, or those who are living with a disability. And in the intermediate state that does not allow Medicaid expansion, parents remain ineligible for benefits if their earnings exceed 42% of the federal poverty threshold (Graves and Swartz, 2017).
Even if they are legally in the country, many persons who are also not native citizens of the United States cannot get Medicaid benefits. Individuals with provisional special protection status, whom the national government allows living within the nation for humanitarian purposes, are not included in this group. Additionally, those who are not eligible for the program are individuals who have been granted provisional permission to the U. S. for several reasons, including work in several disciplines, travel, or learning programs, among many other things. Even though they fulfill all of the conditions for participation in the Medicaid program, legal permanent citizens, also known as green card members, are not permitted to participate during the first 5 years of their residency. The U.S. can waive the five-year waiting period and provide admission to all pregnant women and children who are legally present in the country.
In accordance with federal regulations, state Medicaid initiatives are obligated to provide coverage for a range of “mandatory” services, which include hospital and medical treatment, X-ray services to patients and laboratories services, home base care for older adults, and care provided in nursing facilities. Younger individuals under 21 years old are entitled to an advantage from the program referred to as Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment. This benefit requires the state to offer a more extensive range of services. Care home, and other extensive healthcare services and supports are paid for with the remainder of Medicaid’s expenditure on services. Approximately three-quarters of all the Medicaid program’s expenditures go toward acute-care services, including hospitalization, outpatient treatment, and pharmaceuticals. Medicaid covers over sixty percent of care homes patients, and the program pays around fifty percent of the expenditures associated with extended care support and services. Immediate medical treatment is not something that is offered through Medicaid. Many Medicaid recipients are enrolled in private planned care programs for their medical coverage. When it comes to the rest of the population, state Medicaid initiatives are responsible for paying hospitals, physicians, care homes, and many other healthcare professionals for the health coverage that they give to individuals who are eligible for subsidies.
Overall, Medicaid is a very efficient program covering the costs of medical care for low-income individuals. Medicaid has been a driving force in reducing the total number of people without health insurance since the primary widespread implications of the ACA were established in 2014. Assuming that Medicaid was not there, most people who are now enrolled in the Medicaid program would be without health insurance. This is because private medical insurance is typically not an alternative for individuals who receive health coverage from the Medicaid initiative. Many people who earn low wages do not even have significant exposure to insurance coverage for their families and themselves through their employment type. They are unable to afford to buy coverage on the private market. Medicaid is also beneficial in improving healthcare outcomes, access to treatment, and promoting financial stability for families with low incomes.
References
Bitler, M. P., & Zavodny, M. (2017). Medicaid. In The law and economics of federalism (pp. 183-213). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786433602.00011
Couch, K. A., Reznik, G. L., Iams, H. M., & Tamborini, C. R. (2018). The incidence and consequences of private sector job loss in the Great Recession. Soc. Sec. Bull., 78, 31. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v78n1/v78n1p31.pdf
Graves, J. A., & Swartz, K. (2017). Effects of Affordable Care Act marketplaces and Medicaid eligibility expansion on access to cancer care. The Cancer Journal, 23(3), 168-174. https://doi.org/10.1097/ppo.0000000000000260
Health Issues In The U.K. Sample Essay
Introduction
Food poverty includes the availability and affordability of food in local areas. The U.K.’s food poverty rate is alarming, especially with the pandemic, which makes it hard for people to afford essential commodities. Families suffering from food poverty depend on emergency help from the country’s food banks. Food insecurity is a problem for many people since their income is too low or unstable. Low salaries, a shaky social security system, and benefit sanctions all contribute to this problem, making it difficult to pay for necessities like rent, gas, and food. Both the community and the government should take action to end the issue of food poverty. Food security could lead to a healthier society and reduce health inequities.
In 2022, nearly 2.5 million and 7.3 million adults experience food poverty in the U.K. The situation is expected to worsen. The food poverty crisis in the country is among the worst in Europe despite being the 6th wealthiest nation worldwide. The U.K. has an issue in areas with around 15,000 people serviced by only two or fewer supermarkets to stock the basic needs (Thompson, Smith, and Cummins 2018). These areas are often serviced by small convenience stores that are less likely to stock fresh and healthy products. The stores are also considerably expensive, which forces the disadvantaged population to go without healthy foods. Due to this situation, some families only afford unhealthy foodstuff like fries and soft drinks, which lacks the recommended nutrients, which expands the health inequities between the disadvantaged and the wealthy people in the U.K. Most people suffer from problems like hypertension and obesity as a result of unhealthy eating habits.
Obesity, malnutrition, high blood pressure, anaemia, and liver disease are caused by food insecurity in the United Kingdom. Efforts should be made to address all the health iniquities caused by food insecurities.
Obesity
Twenty-eight per cent of adults in the U.K. are obese, and an additional 36 per cent are overweight. Men are more likely to be obese than women, with an 8 per cent difference. The rising cases of obesity are a significant challenge to public health. It is among the country’s leading preventable causes of death (Robinson et al., 2021). The more disadvantaged people are also more likely to suffer from obesity than the wealthy. The primary cause of obesity is the excessive intake of food energy. In the country, fast food restaurants account for a quarter of the total food outlets. People tend to purchase fast food as they are less expensive than healthier foods. The foods sold at the fast food joints are high in fats, causing increased B.M.I. The country is also saturated with street bakeries and coffee shops that sell drinks with sugar levels above the recommended amount. Processed foods rich in sugar, saturated fats and sugar are also readily available, contributing to the health issue. People believe that obesity is also caused by reduced physical activity and deterioration in family cooking skills. Physical activity in the U.K. declined as more people are employed in desk-bound jobs (Robinson et al.,2021). This causes people to spend more than 8 hours at a desk. Private cars are also the norm in most countries, reducing physical activity. The calories consumed by the consumption of fast foods exceed the calories burned while doing physical activities. This laxity causes an influx of calories in the human body, causing obesity.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is a condition caused by deficits, excesses and imbalances of energy and nutrients in the body. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened food poverty in the U.K., with some food banks reporting increased demand. According to a breakthrough study by Elia. and Stratton (2022) on food poverty, nearly 4 million British children live in families who cannot afford to buy enough fruits, vegetables, fish, and other nutritious items to meet the government’s stated nutrition requirements. Parents in almost 20 per cent of the population are affected by food insecurity. Women, infants and adolescents are the highest affected groups. Poverty increases the chances of malnutrition. The disadvantaged people in the U.K. have the highest number of malnutrition. The malnutrition cases led to the rise of diseases like anaemia, especially in pregnant women and infants.
The high cost of commodities in the country led to people purchasing food due to their affordability rather than their nutritional value. Health care expenses rise, productivity falls, and economic growth is slowed due to malnutrition, creating a vicious circle of poverty and disease. The malnutrition problem in the country is evident as many children joining the primary school are underweight (Stratton, Smith. and Gabe, 2018). Almost three million children face malnutrition during school breaks as they no longer have access to free meals given at school. Headteachers report that many children have poor teeth, grey skin and look thinner due to deficiency diseases, a condition referred to as stunting. The children are usually sluggish and lack concentration even in their studies.
Solution 1
All aspects of society must unite to fight the pandemic to achieve positive change in the obesity problem. The public sector, educational institutions, commercial enterprises, non-profit organisations, and individual homes and families have to contribute to the effort. The first remedy constitutes reducing the consumption of unhealthy foodstuff. Individuals should create an environment that promotes healthy culture and consumption of healthy foods. People should stop the consumption of fast foods and drinks with excess sugar and embrace vegetables. Eating a calorie-controlled meal can help reduce weight gain. People should also consume food with a limit to ensure they do not overfeed. In this sector, the government can strive to reduce the price of healthy food to ensure even disadvantaged people can afford healthy meals. They can also impose taxes and legislation on fast food restaurants and bakeries that serve soft drinks. The taxes can effectively reduce the number of fast food joints in the country.
Doctors recommend limiting sit-in times. These sit-in times include screen time and work hours. It would be practical to exercise for at least two hours a week as exercises help burn excess calories in the body. Some of the effective physical activities that burn calories include jogging and swimming (Robinson et al.,2021). Walking to and from work or school can also be used as exercise. In schools, the government can sponsor sports activities students can engage in during their free time. Sports activities should also be mandatory in all schools, with a minimum of three weekly practice hours.
Solution 2
Malnutrition treatment is dependent on the underlying cause and the extent of malnutrition. The most common solution to malnutrition is dietary change and supplement intake. Children’s malnutrition is often a result of long-term health issues which necessitate hospitalisation and the use of drugs. Children are encouraged to consume foods rich in energy and vitamins instead of consuming more to balance the body’s needs. Often malnutrition is caused by a lack of healthy foods. Eating three meals a day is also recommended with an additional snack. Government intervention could be productive in addressing malnutrition. Free markets and improved agriculture can produce plenty of foodstuff for all people. An increase in food production will reduce the price of food and ensure all households afford to eat healthily. The government can provide foodstuff to families with malnourished children. The government can also provide vitamin and mineral supplements to disadvantaged families to help them transition into healthier lifestyles.
People suffering from the condition should seek medical advice to identify the cause of malnutrition, as certain medical conditions can result in malnutrition. These conditions weaken the ability of the body to absorb nutrients and reduce appetite. Such conditions include liver disease and cancer (Stratton, Smith and Gabe, 2018). Some people with mental illnesses can also not look after their food intake. Consulting a doctor to find the cause is a first step towards becoming healthy. The government can set up free regular medical checkups to ensure a healthy population. These camps diagnose common diseases that could potentially lead to malnutrition.
Conclusion
Food poverty can be triggered by a financial crisis in the state or personal circumstances. When faced with a financial crisis, the first thing to be withdrawn is usually food budget. Most people cut food budgets to accommodate other expenses like rent and tuition. Food poverty negatively affects people’s health, including a high risk of dietary-caused illnesses like anaemia. This is because affordable foods often contain fat and sugar but lack nutrients like iron. Food poverty challenges the provision of quality care to children and adolescents. Lack of access to fresh food, food storage, and cooking facilities worsens health. It exacerbates already-existing health and social issues. With the increase of people affected by food poverty, children and pregnant women are more at risk as they have weak systems. Food poverty affects people differently, with families with more than three children and the Blacks being affected more. Modern food poverty should be unacceptable, and the government should aim to reduce socioeconomic inequities so that all people can afford basic needs. Communities are also at the forefront of addressing food poverty, with many schools offering lunch to children from disadvantaged families. People should push for local authorities and the government to take action toward ending hunger. This effort would ensure all individuals access healthy food.
Bibliography
Thompson, C., Smith, D. and Cummins, S.J.S.S., 2018. Understanding the health and wellbeing challenges of the food banking system: A qualitative study of food bank users, providers and referrers in London. Social Science & Medicine, 211, pp.95-101.
Elia, M. and Stratton, R.J., 2022. Reflections on a seminal article on malnutrition published in the British Journal of Nutrition, 2004. British Journal of Nutrition, pp.1-7.
Stratton, R., Smith, T. and Gabe, S., 2018. Managing malnutrition to improve lives and save money. On behalf of B.A.P.E.N. (British Society of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition).
Robinson, E., Boyland, E., Chisholm, A., Harrold, J., Maloney, N.G., Marty, L., Mead, B.R., Noonan, R. and Hardman, C.A., 2021. Obesity, eating behaviour and physical activity during COVID-19 lockdown: A study of U.K. adults. Appetite, 156, p.104853.
Health Promotion And Disease Prevention Sample Essay
Introduction
Improving the lives of individuals and communities depend on disease prevention and health promotion to facilitate better health. Individual and community behaviours play significant roles in deterring health outcomes. Choices such as lack of physical exercise, unhealthy diets, and substance abuse result in adverse health outcomes. Disease prevention and health promotion are essential in facilitating improved health for individuals and communities. This paper focuses on the concepts of disease prevention and health promotion, elaborating on their importance in reducing risk factors and adopting healthy behaviors as ways of promoting health and wellbeing,
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A description of disease prevention.
Disease prevention entails the process through which persons, especially those at the risk of contracting certain diseases, are treated as a way of preventing the occurrence of the disease. It is different from treatment as it is performed before the onset of the symptoms of the disease (Khoury, 2018). It entails specific individual or community-based interventions to minimize the likelihood of various diseases.
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An example of an existing disease prevention model at the three levels of practice (community,
A disease prevention model that is used at the three levels, including community, systems, and individual levels, is the Health Belief Model. The model is a theoretical model that facilitates guidelines for health promotion and disease prevention programs. It facilitates explanations and predictions of individual changes in health behaviours. It also promotes the understanding of health behaviours. The main element of the Health Belief Model is the focus on individuals relating to health conditions (Sulat et al., 2018). It consequently facilitates the prediction of health-related behaviours. It focuses on defining the main factors that affect health as perceived individual threats to diseases, perceived severity, and the possible positive benefits of actions that could be engaged in the disease prevention process. The Health Benefit model is effective for both short-term and long-term interventions. It focuses on information gathering through engaging in health needs assessments and other efforts to determine the persons at risk of contracting a specific disease. It also elaborates the consequences of the adverse health issues related to various risk behaviors in ways that are clear and easily understood by the target populations in outlining the perceived severity (Sulat et al., 2018). The model is further effective in elaborating the necessary steps and procedures involved in taking the recommended actions for disease prevention. The benefits of the model further include that it facilitates the identification of the necessary measures for reducing barriers to disease prevention activities. The model is further effective in demonstrating actions through developing skills and facilitating support that promotes self-efficacy and the possibility of successful behavior changes.
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An analysis of the benefits and concerns of utilizing this model
The benefit of the Health Belief Model is that it’s difficult to convince people to change their behavior without explaining the dangers of the behaviors (Shmueli, 2021). Essentially people hardly give up something they enjoy in case theory do not get anything in return. For instance, a person may not stop smoking if they do not believe that by doing so, they would be improving their health. Also, a community may not agree to vaccinate if they do not believe it would protect them from contracting a disease. The benefits further facilitate promoting behavior that is considered effective for disease prevention. The assertion includes that following the belief that getting regular exercise and engaging in healthy eating could prevent heart disease, the belief could be essential in increasing the perceived benefits of the behaviors.
The model’s concerns include that despite needing behavior change, people fail to change their behavior as they think it would be hard. Additionally, engaging in behavior change could require significant money, time, and effort (Shmueli, 2021). The challenges of using the method go beyond physical and social difficulties. For instance, if the people around a person engage in a specific behavior, it would be difficult for the person intending to go through a behavior change to effectively achieve the goal.
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A description of health promotion.
Health promotion relates to the process that enables people to increase the level of control over their health to improve the quality of their health. It entails more than the need to control individual health and is instead concerned with creating an increased range of social and environmental interventions (Phillips, A. (2019). In public health practice, it is essential to support communities, governments, and individuals to death with their various health challenges. Health promotion is achieved by creating supportive environments, healthy public policy, and strengthening community actions and personal skills.
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An example of an existing health promotion model at the three levels of practice (community, systems, and individual).
A health model that can be used for health promotion is the Pender health model. The health promotion model was developed in 1982 by doctor Nola Pender. It is aimed at helping patients to achieve optimal health and wellbeing. The creation of the model resulted from the work of Pender on studying health promotion and prevention behaviors. According to the model, all people have individual characteristics and life experiences that directly affect their decisions and actions relating to their health (Fathhi et al., 2019). The model does not solely define health as the absence of disease; instead, it focuses on health as the state of wellbeing. It has been severally revised after its creation, significantly influencing other theorists’ work. Some of the main concepts attributed to the model include the person, their environment, health, and the nursing process. The model focuses on the person as the central focus of the model. The person’s experiences and attributes directly affect the decisions and actions they are likely to take. According to the model, it is necessary to assess the learned behaviors gained through family community and the environments (Fathhi et al., 2019). The earned behaviors affect the ability of individuals to participate in health promotion behaviors. In this case, the environment is a person’s physical, economic, and social conditions. A healthy environment is free of toxins, has economic stability, and allows access to resources that facilitate the access to resources with the likelihood of promoting healthy living. The individual definition of health directly affects the promotion of wellbeing and disease prevention.
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An analysis of the benefits and concerns with utilizing this model.
The benefits of the model include that it is a conceptual model that can be used to develop middle-range theories. The model is an application in health promotion as it can be used across all populations. The health promotion model includes behaviors for improving health and applies across a person’s lifespan (Fathhi et al., 2019). The model is also easy to understand and relates to everyday situations; consequently, it allows the application of the concepts to different types of persons. The benefits of the model further include that it enables nurses to create measures for enabling nurses to assist individuals in developing and practicing healthy habits as a way of preventing the occurrence of diseases.
The limitation of the Pender health model is that the scope of the model elaborates only on the behaviors focused on health promotion and disease prevention (Fathhi et al., 2019). The model would not work when individuals are unwilling or unable to change the behaviors perceived as negatively affecting their health. Individuals must be self-motivated and willing to undergo behavioral change if they are to benefit from the model.
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A discussion of evidence-based practice’s role in disease prevention and health promotion success.
Evidence-based practice has an essential role in the processes of disease prevention and health promotion. It facilitates the development, implementation, and evaluation of effective programs and policies in public health. It works through applying principles of scientific reasoning, such as the systematic use of data and information systems (Fernandez et al., 2019). It also works through efficient behavioral science theory and program planning models. Through the use of the evidence-based practice, disease prevention and health promotion are facilitated following the combination of individual clinical expertise with the possible best scientific evidence.
Additionally, the evidence-based practice focuses on principles of good practice. It integrates sound and professional judgments with the appropriate, systematic research to facilitate disease prevention and health promotion (Fernandez et al., 2019). Additionally, there has been a strong recognition in public health of the need to identify the evidence of the effectiveness of different policies and programs and further translate the generated evidence into recommendations. The process is thought as effective in increasing the use of evidence in public health practice.
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Discuss the role of health teaching in disease prevention and health promotion.
Health teaching is an essential strategy in disease prevention and health promotion programs. Health education facilitates learning experiences on public health topics. These topics are essential in facilitating strategies that are specifically aimed at specific target populations (Vries et al., 2018). Health education presents necessary information relating to different health topics to different populations. It facilitates outlining health benefits and threats that are likely to face specific populations due to different behaviors. Further, health education facilitates the necessary tools to facilitate capacity building and supportive behavior change in an appropriate setting.
Conclusion
Individual and community wellness depend on disease prevention and health promotion in facilitating guidelines for healthy living. The two concepts work concurrently in facilitating improved health outcomes through driving behavior change for the adoption of good and healthy behaviors. These strategies depend on various health models, including the Health belief model for disease prevention and the Pender health model for health promotion. The various models are effective in facilitating godliness for driving behavior change for better health outcomes.
References
Fathhi, S., Mohamadian, H., & Latifi, S. M. (2019). Effective components of the commitment to do and maintain physical activity based on the Pender health promotion model in Middle-aged women of the Southern regions of Iran during 2018. Community Health Journal, 13(4), 75-85. http://chj.rums.ac.ir/article_105941.html
Fernandez, M. E., Ruiter, R. A., Markham, C. M., & Kok, G. (2019). Intervention mapping: theory-and evidence-based health promotion program planning: perspective and examples. Frontiers in Public Health, 7, 209. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00209
Khoury, M. J. (2018). From genes to public health: the applications of genetic technology in disease prevention. The Ethics of Public Health, 371-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2021.106425
Phillips, A. (2019). Effective approaches to health promotion in nursing practice. Nursing Standard. http://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2019.e11312
Shmueli, L. (2021). Predicting intention to receive COVID-19 vaccine among the general population using the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior model. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10816-7
Sulat, J. S., Prabandari, Y. S., Sanusi, R., Hapsari, E. D., & Santoso, B. (2018). The validity of health belief model variables in predicting behavioral change: A scoping review. Health Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-05-2018-0027
Vries, H. D., Kremers, S. P., & Lippke, S. (2018). Health education and promotion: Key concepts and exemplary evidence to support them. In Principles and concepts of behavioral medicine (pp. 489-532). Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93826-4_17