Week 8 Discussion: Advocating for Change: How a Bill Becomes a Law
Question: DISCUSSION QUESTION Your team is tasked with proposing a bill that addresses a specific challenge in one of these areas: a pressing social health issue, an environmental issue, an economic issue, or a current event. Examples: increasing funding for mental health services, regulating telemedicine, improving vaccine distribution, reducing the use of plastics and hazardous materials, or increasing tax incentives for public health workers taking jobs in underinvested communities. For the Week 8 discussion, you will take on the role of an advocacy group worker, and in one short paragraph (3-5 sentences), address a social health concern, an environmental challenge, an economic issue, or a current topic of your choice. Your task is to propose a new bill, or policy idea and how you will advocate for it. The Idea: Select a social, health, environmental, or economic issue, or a current topic of your choice. Talk about why you chose this issue/topic. Creating the Bill: What would your proposed bill include? Outline its main goal(s) and consider how it could improve health policies, protect the environment, drive economic growth, or address the topic you have chosen. Legislative Journey: Discuss how your Bill will move through Congress and the legislative process. Here is a resource about How a Bill Becomes LawLinks to an external site.. Advocacy: How would you rally support from the public and lawmakers to get your Bill passed? Would you organize campaigns, engage with the media, form coalitions, or form a special interest group? You are welcome to “think outside the box,” and come up with your own advocacy ideas.
In my policy idea, I would focus on the immediate problem of mental health funding in the United States, as the issue is that many individuals continue to lack access to care because of the low funding and insurance coverage. Millions of Americans depend on government programs such as Medicaid to access mental health services, and the reduction of these programs will worsen access to care and health outcomes. The bill I would suggest is the Mental Health Access and Equity Act, which would increase federal funds in the community mental health centers, expand Medicaid behavioral health care, raise reimbursement rates to the health specialists, and enhance access to telehealth care among underrepresented and rural population groups.
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