Assignment Task: Advocating for a policy proposal
Instructions:
Choose a stakeholder group from the list provided below and go to their website to learn a little more about what they do.
Then, look over the slides that describe several current policy proposals to the reform Medicare. There are further details on the Lesson 4 Discussion Board. There are four reform ideas that you can work with: (1) Medicare-for-all, (2) "Buy-in" to Medicare for those 50 and older, (3) raising the age for Medicare benefits, and (4) increasing Medicare premiums.
Write a 750-word (max) op-ed from the viewpoint of one of the stakeholders below. Your op-ed must explicitly advocate for or against one of these policy proposals from your stakeholder's perspective. Use a word document format (PDF or Pages will NOT be accepted). Use a 12 point Arial font, 1.15 line spaced (just like this document), a normal margin. Must include a word count at the end.
1. Clearly and accurately identify the policy problem
2. Describe the policy proposal 9selected from the list provided), including how it would be implemented
3. State your position, which should be in line with the stakeholder group (selected from the list provided) of your choice (i.e. promote your stakeholder group's interests).
4. Summarize relevant evidence for your position (do research)
5. Use 2 main arguments in support of your position. While you must discuss what impact the policy would have on your stakeholders, your argument should appeal to a broader audience, emphasizing why they should also care about this issue (i.e. this policy would cut down revenues to hospitals, who will have to lay off workforce and operate based on limited resources. This means people will have to wait for a long time to get the care they need from the hospitals...)
6. Conclude with a forceful statement that reiterates your position and calls on the appropriate legislative body or agency to adopt your position.
7. Add a line after the end of your op-ed, in italics, that reads "YOUR NAME is a senior policy analyst for the STAKEHOLDER GROUP".
Stakeholder groups:
- American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
- American Health Care Association (ACHA]
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Pharmaceutical Industry (choose a company like Novartis, Merck, Pfizer, Johnson &Johnson or others)
- American Health Insurance Plans (organization that represents health insurers [AHIP])
- America's Essential Hospitals
It is important that the written work required by the course is yours. You should not use ChatGPT or other AI tools for any purpose other than idea generation. If you do use if for idea generation, please add a note at the bottom of the essay indicating this.
In the page after the end of your op-ed, you must include (1) bibliography (you can use any format, but JAMA or APA is commonly used in the public health context); and (2) screenshots of the first page of all articles, reports, webpages, or any other sources that you cited or referenced in your op-ed. If it is a peer-reviewed article, you must use a non-gated full text version (so that I know you actually read it and did not just rely on its abstract). If you do NOT include these two, you will immediately lose 3 points (for not including proper evidence supporting your position). Make sure to avoid plagiarism by properly citing your source.
Quotes should be reserved for quotations from an important entity or person or if you cannot put data in your own words.
Do not cut and paste without quotation marks.
Significantly better than cutting and pasting with quotation marks is putting the concept into your own words.
Using your own words does NOT mean changing one or two words in an otherwise cut/pasted text! It means understanding the concept and writing it yourself.
Turnitin is enabled for this assignment. I do not use the Turnitin score but I will check, using the report, if you properly cited your source. Be sure to edit and proofread your work. Points will be deducted for spelling errors and poor grammar.