Research paperHealth policy

HCA 545 Module 5 2010 Health Care Reform Bill Impact Review

Four lenses on one scenario, and the physical one is the lens students skip. Thirty-two million newly insured people need somewhere to be seen, and buildings take years.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 23, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
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Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

The physical lens is the one that gets skipped

The scenario contains a shift that the four questions are designed to draw out. Institutions are told to move beyond treating whoever comes through the door, and the measures listed, disease burden, vaccination rates, chronic disease control, are population measures rather than encounter measures. That is a change in what a hospital is for, and it is the thread that connects the four lenses. Governance is where it starts, because a board that has always defined its responsibility as the patients inside the building has to decide whether it now accepts responsibility for a population, which changes what it measures, what it funds and who it partners with. Community benefit obligations and the community health needs assessment requirement are the concrete governance hooks here. A board that has never read its own community health needs assessment is answering that question by default. Say which of the two you mean each time, since they diverge and the paper has to hold both.

The financial lens has two halves worth separating: newly insured patients bring revenue where there was previously uncompensated care, which improves the payer mix, but the coverage is largely Medicaid and exchange plans reimbursing below commercial rates, so volume rises faster than margin. The physical lens is the one most papers omit and it is genuinely constraining, because thirty-two million people need consulting rooms, primary care capacity and access points that take years to build, and the mismatch is why emergency department use did not fall as quickly as expected after coverage expanded. Ambulatory expansion, extended hours, telehealth and retail or community-based access points are the realistic answers. The demographic lens then asks who these patients are, and the scenario has already told you: language services, health literacy, transportation, and a population with untreated chronic disease that will present at a later stage and cost more in the first years than in later ones.

Likely learning objectives

Identify the shift from encounter-based to population-based responsibility.
Separate revenue improvement from margin under a changed payer mix.
Treat physical capacity as a binding constraint with a long lead time.
Anticipate higher early costs from previously untreated chronic disease.

Assignment instructions

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Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: 1) Scenario: Pursuant to the 2010 Health Care Reform Bill, the United States will be challenged to bring into its health care population some 32 million more patients. Formerly, many of these patients were uninsured. Some of these patients were seen and treated in safety-net hospitals, but mostly in emergency rooms. Reliable, independent studies have shown that this population is low income and is disproportionately made up of ethnic and racial minorities; however, it is important to point out that due to the economic downturn at the turn of the decade surrounding 2010, this 32 million will include a significant number of non-minority unemployed individuals. Consider that health care institutions must move beyond simply taking in and treating the sick and injured who come through the door. In the near future, the health of the community will be measured in terms of low disease burden, high vaccination rates, controlled chronic disease rates, healthier life styles, and a better educated public. Clearly, the impacts to the health care system will have to be addressed. 2) Write a paper (1,250-1,500 words) that describes the roles and responsibilities of health care management in addressing this pressing dilemma. Apply the following questions to generate your conclusions about how you would proceed: a) How do the considerations under the concept of governance apply? b) What are the major financial issues being faced? c) What are the major physical issues being faced? d) What are the major demographic issues being faced? 3) Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. 4) This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. HCA 545 Module 5 2010 Health Care Reform Bill Impact Review One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

What HCA 545 Module 5 requires

01A paper of 1,250-1,500 words in APA format.
02A description of the roles and responsibilities of health care management in addressing the dilemma.
03How the considerations under the concept of governance apply.
04The major financial issues being faced.
05The major physical issues being faced.
06The major demographic issues being faced.