Problem
Daily nursing practice proves that nurses face numerous situations which make them re-evaluate their experience and contemplate the change of action plan, which would work out better. Consequently, nurses choose to advocate for a policy that would ensure better health outcomes and improve care quality. Their innate instinct pushes them towards creating better conditions for treating patients. The situation seems typical for Florida, where nurses took the advocating role in order to reinforce the recurrent issues they encounter on a daily basis.
The public charge rule amendment presents a significant problem to U.S. immigrants. This group of the population has been eligible for governmental financial assistance, including help in accessing medical services for several decades. However, the Trump administration’s proposed amendment has complicated immigrants’ position. It suggested that those migrants receiving benefits from public services can barely obtain U.S. citizenship on a legal basis (Beck et al., 2019). These changes caused migrants not to seek out medical treatment since their chances for acquiring legal citizenship would be undermined.
Ideas for Solution
Miami is home to millions of immigrants who constitute a large number of workforce in the state of Florida. It is absurd that nurses witness this situation daily. Hence, the best decision for solving this acute issue would be taking advocacy for a policy to affect the availability and accessibility of medical services for immigrants. The only way to make a difference and repeal the proposed amendment lies through official channels that lead to the state authorities. Forming nurses’ unions would be an option to protest against the public charge rule. By presenting strong evidence and receiving support from other healthcare workers, nurses can create a bill to navigate the legislation. Nonetheless, the proposed bill would be accompanied by numerous hearings where nurses and other medical staff would be testified on the matter. Moreover, immigrants residing in Miami who make up many of the population and suffer from social benefits may voice. This is an excellent opportunity for them to speak up and provide sufficient ground for legislation to implement changes.
Researching the Issue
Evidence One
Immigrants are continuously seeking to receive health care services but encounter numerous issues due to lack of documentation. It is estimated that Florida has the largest amount of undocumented immigrants, and one out of five residents came from Mexico or the Caribbean (Perreira & Pedoza, 2019).
Evidence Two
The pandemic caused most immigrants to obtain expensive treatment programs since the unauthorized immigrants do not have insurance and are not eligible for any preventive care in hospitals. However, California recently approved coverage provision and expansion for young undocumented immigrants under the state’s Medicaid program and invested 98$ million for it (Joseph & Marrow, 2017). Yet, even if the coverage is expanded, not every immigrant will be eligible for it.
Stakeholder Support
Stakeholder Supporting One
Primarily, migrants and refugees will support the idea and speak up on the matter since they cannot easily access adequate medical services. However, their voice may be unnoticed since lack of documentation does not make them legal citizens capable of influencing policies.
Stakeholder Supporting Two
Health and civil society organizations can also advocate for policy introduction. These stakeholders have more or less impact on the societal opinions and movements; hence, they could provide solid evidence for the public charge rule renovation.
Stakeholder Opposition
Stakeholder Opposing One
The legislative branch may oppose the public charge rule amendment since they considered undocumented migrants to be detrimental in terms of the state’s economy, politics, and societal order. However, their opinion can be debated by demonstrating that these people positively influence a country’s economy.
Stakeholder Opposing Two
The other opposing stakeholder would be bureaucrats since the paperwork they do is too complex and costly and has high requirements to become eligible for health care programs. Nevertheless, this obstacle is nominal because the process of obtaining legal documents can be simplified, even though it may take much time.
Financial Incentives/Costs
The average cost of providing healthcare services for an illegal immigrant will be about $4,600 per year. However, preventive care requires minimum resources, since people are responsible for such interventions (Perreira & Pedoza, 2019). This will minimize the number and cost of hospital admissions. Moreover, it will save funds which can be used for achievement of other healthcare objectives. Therefore, the presumable amount of money is not enormous which lets the state strengthen other aspects of medial system.
Legislature
To my mind, it is vital to make an appointment with the legislator and propose the bill, mentioning its benefits and showing statistics which will prove the indispensability of its approval. Once the advocate applies the bill to Congress, trying to explain its relevance and advantages to the target audience, the commission will have to view it. When the Congress members and the committee revised the bill, they have to make corrections and send it back for approval. Then, the document is sent to the House of Representatives, where it is debated. Finally, if the bill is approved, the President has to sign it.
Christian Principles
Christian worldview suggests that all people are equal and have equitable access to essential services such as healthcare. Christianity neglects discrimination based on socio-economic status, age, sex, or race. Thus, this principle will support legislative advocacy for the vulnerable population, including immigrants. If policymakers approve this bill, it will mean that they will expand access to medical services and achieve a bigger goal. Moreover, Christian principles proclaim justice as a crucial attitude towards each other. It means that people should speak openly about the social disparities and seek help from legal forces.
References
Beck, T. L., Le, T. K., Henry-Okafor, Q., & Shah, M. K. (2019). Medical care for undocumented immigrants: National and international issues. Physician assistant clinics, 4(1), 33–45. Web.
Joseph, T., & Marrow, H. (2017). Health care, immigrants, and minorities: Lessons from the affordable care act in the U.S. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(12), 1965-1984, Web.
Perreira, K., & Pedoza, J. (2019). Policies of exclusion: Implications for the health of immigrants and their children. Annual Review of Public Health,40(1), 147-166.