First Steps on Becoming a Grassroots Lobbyist/Advocate for Health Care Policy

Health Care Policy
Student’s Name
Institution
Question 1: A “leave behind”
The Honorable (full name)
____ (room #), (name of) Senate Office
United States Senate
Dear Senator:
PLEASE VOTE ‘NO’ ON AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT 2017
My name is……………… and I am a constituent of ………………I am asking you to vote ‘No’ on the AHCA.
The AHCA would be devastating to many people suffering from mental health problems and those that require substance use disorder care.
I urge you to take a stand against the American health care act since it will leave about 24 million children, vulnerable communities as well as families without healthcare in the coming years.
If the bill passes, it will eliminate the current subsidies that bring down the costs of premiums. The bill will certainly surge health costs and will be costly to the taxpayers more. It also indicates that fewer persons will be covered. Supporting the bill is unacceptable and irresponsible.
Kindly vote against the bill since it will make health insurance unaffordable for the low-income groups making it hard for them to get health coverage. The bill is also going to restructure Medicaid, thereby striping health care for the vulnerable children, families, and communities.
The bill will do nothing to bring the cost of healthcare down. On the contrary, it will increase premiums up by 15-20%, which will reduce assistance to those who need help in getting insurance
133 million people suffering from various diseases could lose the essential protection that they have at the moment.

These kind of policies are short-sighted and could affect millions of people by leaving them without treatment. It could also increase the rates of hospital emergency visits and therefore, anguish families and communities.
Rationale
Dear Senator,
I am requesting you to vote ‘No’ on the American Healthcare Act due to various reasons. I am convinced that the Affordable health care act helps many people who are in the low-income group. These people cannot afford to pay premiums for their insurance, and therefore they are likely to be left out which will make their health deteriorate. Please vote against the bill since it will make health insurance unaffordable for the low-income groups making it challenging for them to get health coverage. In my research I have also discovered that the bill is also going to restructure Medicaid, thereby striping health care for the vulnerable children, families, and communities. It is saddening that the bill will do nothing to bring the cost of healthcare down. On the contrary, it will increase premiums up by 15-20%, which will reduce assistance to those who need help in getting insurance (Huntington et al., 2011).
It is estimated that about 133 million people suffering from various diseases could lose the essential protection that they have at the moment. This kind of policies are short-sighted and could affect millions of people by leaving them without treatment. It could also increase the rates of hospital emergency visits and therefore, anguish families and communities. My reason for not supporting the bill is because if the bill passes, it will eliminate the current subsidies that bring down the costs of premiums. The bill will undoubtedly increase health care costs over time, which will cost the taxpayers more. This bill will decrease the number of people able to get coverage. Supporting the bill is unacceptable and irresponsible (Obama, 2017).
Repealing or replacing the Affordable Care Act will be detrimental to our country since it will increase the uninsured people and many people will not have health care coverage. I will be keen to observe how you vote. The decision will affect how I will cast my vote in the next election.
Question 2. Scenario Surrounding Legislative Visit
The legislative visit was a success. The political affiliations took center stage in the determination of the people who supported and those who opposed the AHCA. The Republicans were advocating for the repealing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replacing it with AHCA. On the other hand, the Democrats were opposed to the idea since they were sure that the ACA was of much benefits that the AHCA. The member was a Republican and was convinced that the Bill was the best and could bring many benefits to the citizens of the US. Therefore, I had to convince the member the reason as to why opposing the Bill would have been beneficial to the people. The member was opposed to the existing ACA only because it had been brought about by a Democrat president. The biases that the member had were all political. Therefore, there was a need to convince the member otherwise and bring out facts onto why they should be opposed to the AHCA (Wang & Cahill, 2017).
The major points for opposing the AHCA were;
1) The passing of the AHCA could make about 24 million Americans lose their cover to the manner in which it was structured,
2) The bill would give about $ 600 billion in form of tax breaks to the health insurers and individuals earning a high income,
3) The new AHCA did not bother providing help or assistance to the citizens who had a prior illness, and the figure is high of about 133 Million Americans. Explaining these three major points to the member would make a huge difference to make sure that the decision made through ballot has positively impacted the lives of many people. Additionally, the member should also be convinced that by doing what is right towards the citizens regardless of their class or social background is the greatest service that can be accorded to all Americans. Careful analysis of the issues will probably make the members change their decision and opposed the move to implement the AHCA which is of fewer benefits to the poor citizen when compared to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
My nursing experience is likely to significantly influence the advocacy position on AHCA and how it will have an effect on the ordinary citizens. Through the experience, I have known that the insurers tend to exploit the patients who have preexisting conditions. The government should be on the forefront in making sure that the citizens are always protected from the exploitative insurance firms. The individuals with preexisting conditions in most cases fail to receive proper medical attention because they are unable to afford to pay for their treatment. The other area where my nursing experience would come into play on matters to do with advocacy is the increase in the tax cuts to the high-income earners. The government is expected to focus much on the low-income earners. Favoring high-income earners is not fair because they rarely seek medical attention from public facilities. The less privileged in the society are the people who mostly use the public hospital since private facilities are expensive. Opposing the AHCA would also ensure that the ACA has continued to help millions of the beneficiaries and especially the poor in the society. Increasing the number of the uninsured citizen would be a challenge to the country, and there is a need for the legislators to oppose the AHCA (Wang & Cahill, 2017).
References
Huntington, W. V., Covington, L. A., Center, P. P., Covington, L. A., & Manchikanti, L. (2011). Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: reforming the health care reform for the new decade. Pain physician, 14(1), E35-E67.
Obama, B. H. (2017). Repealing the ACA without a replacement—the risks to American health care. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(4), 297-299.
Wang, T., & Cahill, S. (2017). Amended American Health Care Act Poses New Threat to People Living with HIV, LGBT People.