Assignment:

Public health officials in state offices usually participate in the analysis of proposed legislation but may have different names for the format or process that is used in that state. For this purposes of this assignment, the term Health Policy Analysis (HPA) will be used with the following format. The student is to create an HPA using one of the following scenarios.

Scenario One:

The nurse consultant in the state office has been assigned to complete the HPA for this bill.

Complete the HPA in clear succinct sentences. At least three references should be cited using the APA style is required.

House Bill No. 240 has been introduced in the state General Assembly by a patron and has been referred to the “Health Committee.” The bill is as follows:

That the code of this state is amended by adding a section to the ɠ 32.1-134 regarding hospital practice to read: Every hospital providing maternity care shall, prior to releasing each maternity patient, make available to such patient and her husband information about postpartum depression and a list of available treatment options available in the state. This information shall be discussed with the maternity patient with her physician and documented in the patient’s medical record.

Complete a health policy analysis using the following questions:

• Summarize the proposed legislation. Use your own words to describe the intent of the legislation.
• Describe the problem the proposed legislation is intended to address. Use secondary data to further describe the problem as is known from the literature.
• Identify the stakeholders and project the expected opinion. Indicate who would be in support of the legislation and why. Indicate who would not support the legislation and why?
• Examine the risks and benefits of the proposed legislation. If this bill is passed, what would be the expected outcomes and would that have a positive or negative impact on the public health? If this bill is not passed, what would be the positive or negative outcomes?
• Provide discussion as to the projected costs of this legislation if any.
• What would be the recommendation to the Governor?
• Should the Governor strongly support the bill and make a statement that he would sign if passed by the legislature?
• Should the Governor support the bill but express concerns or reservations? If so, what are those concerns? Can the proposed legislation be improved? If so, suggest the amendment/s.
• Should the Governor not support and state that he would veto if it passed the legislature? Give the reasons why the bill should not be supported and vetoed.
• The assignment should be presented in APA format in a scholarly essay of 1500 to 2000 words. At least two scholarly sources, other than the textbook and provided materials should be utilized.