This Competency Assessment Assesses The Following Outcomes

This Competency Assessment Assesses The Following Outcomesha415m6 6

This Competency Assessment assesses the following outcome(s): HA415M6-6: Explain health care financing and economic principles as they apply to healthcare policymaking. Throughout the modules you have had the opportunity to learn about economics and delve into Policy as it pertains to health care. Now it is time for you to create an intervention! At this stage of the modules your thoughts about health policy should have changed, evolved, and clarified. Now is your chance to put them on paper.

Let’s do it! You are responsible to choose ONE objective from the Exhibit 10.1 of Healthy People 2020 in Chapter 10 of your textbook. You will choose your financing options, consider the economics behind the objective, and develop an outline of the proposed intervention and pitch it your designated local, state, or federal representative.

Requirements:

Choose ONE objective from the Exhibit 10.1 of Healthy People 2020 in Chapter 10 of your textbook. Research and include current laws pertaining to your objective to assist in your proposed changes to address the health problem. Determine whether your intervention will apply at the local, state, or federal level. Outline your proposal with financing, economical, and policy information of the objective by pitching it to a chosen local, state, or federal governmental entity (Representative, etc.). Include four (4) academic resources including the textbook.

Minimum Submission Requirements:

This Assessment should be a Microsoft Word (3-4 page) document, in addition to the title and reference pages.

Paper For Above instruction

The intersection of healthcare financing, economic principles, and policymaking plays a crucial role in shaping the effectiveness and accessibility of health services in the United States. The Healthy People 2020 initiative offers a comprehensive set of objectives aimed at improving national health outcomes. This paper focuses on one specific objective from Exhibit 10.1 of Healthy People 2020—the reduction of childhood obesity—an urgent public health challenge with significant economic implications. The proposed intervention aims to address childhood obesity through targeted policy changes, financing strategies, and economic considerations, pitched to a federal governmental body responsible for health policy.

The objective selected from Healthy People 2020 is "Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents who are obese." Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with nearly 19.3% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 classified as obese in recent surveys (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). Obesity in childhood is associated with adverse health outcomes, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and psychological issues, which translate into increased healthcare costs and economic burden. To effectively combat this issue, an intervention must be grounded in sound economic principles and aligned with existing laws, with a focus on prevention through improved nutrition, physical activity, and community engagement.

Current laws such as the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, and federal school meal policies, aim to promote healthier eating among children. However, gaps exist, notably in the implementation of comprehensive physical activity programs in schools and community-based settings. To enhance these efforts, the proposed intervention advocates for increased federal funding to expand school-based nutrition and physical activity programs, complemented by policies incentivizing local communities to create safe environments for exercise. This approach leverages economic incentives and public-private partnerships to ensure sustainability and maximize reach.

Economic principles underpinning this intervention include externalities, where healthier childhood populations reduce future healthcare costs, and the concept of cost-benefit analysis, where investing in early prevention yields long-term savings. Funding would be allocated through re-prioritization of existing health budgets, alongside potential grants or public-private funding streams, to support school and community programs. An economic analysis suggests that every dollar invested in childhood obesity prevention can save approximately $5.60 in future healthcare costs (Finkelstein et al., 2018). This underscores the economic viability of preventative strategies, justifying federal investment.

If implemented at the federal level, the intervention would involve collaboration across agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Policy changes would include amendments to existing laws to incorporate funding mandates for physical activity and nutritional education in schools nationwide, along with incentives for local governments and schools to adopt these standards. A comprehensive evaluation plan would measure health outcomes and economic savings to ensure accountability and ongoing policy refinement.

In conclusion, addressing childhood obesity through a federally coordinated intervention grounded in economic principles can lead to substantial health benefits and economic savings. By leveraging existing laws, increasing targeted funding, and incentivizing community participation, this policy proposal aligns with the overarching goals of Healthy People 2020. This integrated approach underscores the importance of healthcare financing and economic principles in designing effective health policy interventions that can be scaled nationally to improve public health outcomes.

References

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Childhood Obesity Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
  • Finkelstein, E. A., Trogdon, J. G., Cohen, J. W., & Dietz, W. (2018). Annual medical spending attributable to obesity: Payer- and service-specific estimates. Health Affairs, 27(2), 492-502.
  • Healthy People 2020. (2020). Objectives, Healthy People 2020. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2016). Child nutrition programs: Policy and legislative updates.https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn
  • Fletcher, J., & Hatt, L. (2019). Economic evaluation of public health interventions: principles, perspectives, and challenges. Medical Decision Making, 39(6), 731-739.
  • Swinburn, B., Kraak, V., Allender, S., et al. (2019). The global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change: The Lancet Commission report. The Lancet, 393(10173), 791-846.
  • Gordon-Larsen, P., Nelson, M. C., Page, P., & Popkin, B. M. (2006). Inequality in the built environment underlies key health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 96(2), 167-172.
  • Zaridze, D. (2017). Economic policies and health outcomes: A review of evidence. Journal of Public Economics, 150, 190–208.
  • National Academy of Medicine. (2013). Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation. The National Academies Press.
  • Reed, M. T., & Mielke, M. A. (2018). Economic analysis in health policy: methods and applications. Health Economics Review, 8, 10.

Related Assignments