NHS-FPX 6008 Economics and Decision Making in Health Care Lobbying for Change

NHS-FPX 6008 Economics and Decision Making in Health Care

Lobbying for Cne 13, 2023

Department of Health and Human Services 

200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Committee.

As a nurse working in a Minnesota hospital, I am writing you this letter with the aim of highlighting the issues of exponentially rising drug prices, the lack of individual affordability, and their impact on our work as well as the community.The rise in drug prices has impacted individuals’ willingness to find a cure and to take medication as they are unable to afford them, and it makes it even harder to manage their medication expenses while they are not fully insured, hence the nurses constant struggle to find ways to provide quality care regardless of patients’ inability to pay for their care.

Along with that, the rising prices place a greater financial burden on the organizations. Hence, the aim of writing this letter is to address the issue of rising drug prices (Affair, 2022). The aim of highlighting this issue is to help people gain better healthcare access while being able to afford the care and regulate the policies regarding the Medicare price rate. However, if the issue is not dealt with as an immediate priority, then there are chances that it might impact an individual’s ability to seek out care, as affording medication would be a problem.

There is a vast amount of literature that suggests that increased drug processing impacts patients’ adherence to medication and their perception of healthcare facilities (Rajkumar, 2020). According to the research, patients’ capacity to purchase medication and the healthcare system as a whole are both negatively affected by the high cost of drugs (Chisholm-Burns, et al., 2017). Another study looked at how drug prices affected research and distribution, finding that the nearly 9% annual increase in drug costs from 2008 to 2018 could be preventing many people from receiving treatment or sticking to their medication regimen (Kakkar, 2021).

NHS FPX 6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change

Control measures include less research and development (R&D) and fewer medication approvals (Kesselheim et al., 2016), which another study found to have an effect on medical innovation. Similar to how these studies have shown the importance of implementing policies that prioritize community health and address these ethical and racial barriers to healthcare access, they have also shown the importance of designing interventions to address the issues of increased pricing, providing affordable medication options, and addressing these barriers (Philipson & Durie, 2021).

Along with that, the current issue has been impacting our work as nurses, organizations, and the overall healthcare system as it limits access to medication and the healthcare system, making it hard for people to either reach out to us or adhere to medication. Therefore, as per my experience, the foremost solution to this problem is to provide a universal healthcare system to all individuals, regardless of their status, to help manage the gap and to provide policies through which medication prices are regulated and managed properly.Henceforth, for this purpose, I would like you to pay attention to this particular issue and provide us with ways to combat it and form universal yet equal policies for the healthcare system so that everyone can benefit from it. Hence, I strongly urge you to take action to manage the issue and work on the enhancement of the overall health care system.

I am eagerly waiting for your positive response.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

A.B.C

References 

Affairs (ASPA), A. S. for P. (2022, September 30). New HHS Reports Illustrate Potential Positive Impact of Inflation Reduction Act on Prescription Drug Prices. HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/09/30/new-hhs-reports-illustrate-potential-positive-impact-inflation-reduction-act-prescription-drug-prices.html

Chisholm-Burns, M. A., Spivey, C. A., Gatwood, J., Wiss, A., Hohmeier, K., & Erickson, S. R. (2017). Evaluation of racial and socioeconomic disparities in medication pricing and pharmacy access and services. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 74(10), 653–668. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp150872

Kakkar, A. K. (2021). Pharmaceutical price regulation and its impact on drug innovation: mitigating the trade-offs. Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 31(3), 189–192.