Public Health System

Question

Recently, I read a paper regarding the public health system (https://khn.org/news/us-public-health-system-underfunded-under-threat-faces-more-cuts-amid-covid-pandemic/). According to the data, most states have been reducing their budget for the public health offices, and public health jobs have been disappearing since 2008. This is very alarming to me (especially when we are still dealing with the Covid Pandemic right now). As we talked about in our previous discussion forum, we have about 10% of population without health insurance. They have no access to basic health care and preventative care, and will most likely end up in ERs.

Current literature have shown public health system can help bridge the gap (among other things) while we are figuring out how to provide basic health care to all. There are also overwhelming evidences that show multitude of benefits when we have the effective public health policies in place. For example, after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services changed its regulations in 2014, and allows community health worker (CHW) to be reimbursed for preventative care through Medicaid, researchers have documented that CHWs have helped reducing re-hospitalization and ER visits for patients with cardiovascular disease.*

So, let’s take a closer look at our public health system this week. You can use the current literature (academic research or news) or draw from your personal experience.

(1) Tell us about a public health policy that you believe has been effective, and you think efforts should be made to increase its funding and prevalence. Use the data to show its benefits and costs;

(2) Or tell us about a public health policy that has been discontinued or under-funded, and you believe the cutting was a mistake. Again, please use data to support your argument when possible.

*Smith, L., Atherly, A., Campbell, J., Flattery, N., Coronel, S., & Krantz, M. (2019). Cost-effectiveness of a statewide public health intervention to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. BMC Public Health. 19, 1-8.

*Vohra, A., Chua, R., Besser, S.A., Alcain, C., Basnet, S., Battle, B., Coplan, M.J., Spencer, K.T., Liao, J., & Tabit, C. (2019). Community health workers reduce rehospitalizations and emergency department visits for low socioeconomic urban patients with heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 73(9), 856. .