Index Current Event ModelHow does this event relate to public health? References:Current Event TemplateBrief Description of Current Event:The article I chose discusses recent congressional legislation, which allows fewer penalties from Medicare for readmissions to hospitals that serve large populations of low-income citizens (Rau 2018) . Since 2012, Medicare has penalized hospitals for discharging patients who end up being readmitted within a month, this institution was established to try to promote better care for these patients (Rau 2018). It has since been argued that patients end up being readmitted to hospital through no fault of these institutions but due to problems such as lack of regular doctors, access to healthcare facilities, money to pay for prescriptions or a multitude of others factors (Raù 2018). These institutions serving large populations of low-income citizens were more susceptible to these financial sanctions and struggled to remain standing (Rau 2018). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The main issue raised by this article is that hospitals serving low-income populations may be judged against hospitals serving high-SES populations, with a particular emphasis on quality of care (Rau 2018). The new policy starting October 1 will reduce by about half fines for serving high-volume low-income patients, in exchange will increase fines for hospitals serving low-volume low-income patients (Rua 2018). How does this event relate to public health? In my opinion, the assigned reading and discussion on the social determinants of health connects to this article. This article does an adequate job of considering the point that an individual's health is not a direct reflection of genetics and individual behaviors alone. The fact that what determines health is much broader than considerations such as access to healthcare, social support, life stressors, and financial ability to pay for medications, copays, etc. The article argues that it is not far off to compare the health outcomes of From individuals of lower SES to those of a higher SES class, readmission to hospitals serving large volumes of low-income populations was not necessarily due to the quality of care during their stay in these facilities but to external factors that affected their health. Therefore penalizing and judging the quality of care at these hospitals based on readmission rates would be unfair, especially when compared to hospitals that serve a more affluent population. Another aspect of public health relevant to this particular current event is the ecological model for health promotion. This article is a good example of an intervention at the public policy level, which will intervene at the national level taking into consideration all levels of the ecological model. When you take intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and community aspects into consideration, you can intervene on a larger scale. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay When you consider health disparities on all levels of the ecological model it can be seen that these levels are interdependent on each other and intervention on one level can trickle down to another level. For example, in the article, reducing fines on hospitals that serve large volumes of low-income citizens could lead to a
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