Healthcare Bill

Healthcare Bill

The Strengthening America’s Health Care Readiness Act (S.54) was introduced in the 117th Congress by two U.S. senators (Durbin, 2021). The bill's sponsor was Richard J. Durbin (IL), while Marco Rubio (FL) was the cosponsor. Senator Dick Durbin is a lawyer and a Democrat from Springfield, Illinois, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and was re-elected four times, in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020 (About Dick Durbin | U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, 2019). Senator Durbin has served in numerous committee and congressional positions throughout his tenures. He has also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and currently sits on the Appropriations and Agriculture Committees. He also serves as the Senate majority Whip. Throughout his years as a congressman, the senator has worked tirelessly to improve healthcare. His accomplishments in this domain include legislation to ban smoking on commercial air flights and protect children from harms linked to tobacco (About Dick Durbin | U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, 2019). Senator Marco Rubio is a lawyer and a Republican from Miami, Florida, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2009 and re-elected in 2016 (U.S. Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio, 2019). Senator Rubio has served on various committees, including the Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Foreign Relations, Appropriations, and Intelligence Committees.

The bipartisan bill introduced by Durbin and Rubio aims to extend the healthcare workforce in America to meet the statewide challenges that Covid-19 has highlighted (Durbin, 2021). The bill intends to make significant investments to strengthen healthcare surge capacity in addressing shortages facing healthcare workers in the U.S. The American Nurses Association's position on the issues in the bill emphasizes the invaluable function that nurses play in meeting society's healthcare needs (Durbin & Rubio, 2021). In addition, the ANA’s efforts are directed towards creating a modern healthcare environment within the U.S. by influencing policies dedicated to decision-making that ensures all Americans have access to high-quality and safe healthcare. The American Nurses Association strongly supported the bill after Covid-19 exposed the healthcare workforce gap: physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals (Durbin & Rubio, 2021). Thus, the ANA formally supports the bill’s objective of enticing students and qualified healthcare professionals from diverse communities with scholarships and loan repayment support in exchange for offering services in underserved settings. Thus, the bill aligns with ANA’s objective to offer accessible high-quality care (Durbin & Rubio, 2021).

The ANA Code of Ethics constitutes a guide for professionals to carry out their responsibilities while offering quality and safe care and upholding ethical obligations of nursing practice. The proposed bill has significant implications for the code of ethics. Foremost, the bill upholds justice, a principle of the nursing code (American Nurses Association, 2015). According to the code, a nurse should provide the same level of care for patients irrespective of their financial status, ethnicity, religion, and gender. In this regard, the proposed bill aims to balance healthcare delivery by incentivizing practitioners to offer services in underserved neighborhoods (Durbin & Rubio, 2021). A majority of underserved communities are comprised of ethnic minorities such as Latinos and African Americans. Additionally, such communities cannot afford private healthcare facilities. Thus, the bill ensures that the medical needs of underprivileged communities are adequately met with qualified practitioners (American Nurses Association, 2015).

The Public Health Service is tasked with controlling and coordinating the mandates stipulated in the bill at the federal level is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The DHHS will coordinate the resources and personnel proposed to feature in the emergency service partnership whose objective is to increase healthcare surge capacity during public health emergencies such as Covid-19 (Durbin & Rubio, 2021).

There are numerous beneficiaries of the proposed bill. Ethnic communities would benefit in two ways. First, the bill advocates offering promising students from diverse communities scholarships to pursue healthcare-related careers (Durbin, 2021). Second, it attempts to incentivize practicing healthcare professionals with loan repayment funds if they practice in understaffed healthcare environments, which are overwhelmingly located within underprivileged communities (Durbin & Rubio, 2021). Due to the current healthcare disparity within U.S. communities, the healthcare bill would not be opposed since it aims to increase healthcare inclusivity at the grassroots level.

The bill necessitates substantial funding and resources from the federal government. One-time funding of $5 billion is needed for scholarships aiming to increase diversity in healthcare fields (Durbin, 2021). Also, $1 million would be offered in scholarships through the nurse corps programs. There is an estimated shortage of 200,000 nurses and 120,000 doctors in rural and underserved communities. Thus, an annual increase of up to 40% in the national healthcare budget would be needed to make healthcare inclusive in the U.S. The Strengthening America’s Health Care Readiness Act is a federal bill that the federal government would fund (Durbin, 2021). Similarly, states would be required to supplement appropriations with state budgets.

I strongly support the bill because I believe that healthcare is a universal right for every American irrespective of their race, income, religion, or gender (American Nurses Association, 2015). In addition, the bill was proposed following the nationwide healthcare workforce shortages when Covid-19 hit. Thus, the bill’s objective to adequately bolster emergency capacity will not only ensure that the nation is capable of handling another epidemic incident but also that there are minimal casualties when such incidents occur (American Nurses Association, 2015).

References

About Dick Durbin | U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. (2019). Www.durbin.senate.gov. https://www.durbin.senate.gov/about-dick-durbin

Durbin, Rubio Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Health Care Workforce to Meet Nationwide Challenges Highlighted by COVID-19 | U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. (2021, January 26). https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-rubio-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-expand-health-care-workforce-to-meet-nationwide-challenges-highlighted-by-covid-19

Durbin, R. J. (2021, January 26). Text - S.54 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Strengthening America’s Health Care Readiness Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/54/text?q=%7B

U.S. Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio. (2019). Senate.gov. American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of Ethics for Nurses. American Nurses Association. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/code-of-ethics-for-nurses/