Discussion Questions: Commonwealth Fund
Discussion Questions: Commonwealth Fund
Discussion Questions: Commonwealth Fund
The U.S health care system faces significant challenges, despite being viewed by many people as the most efficient. The U.S health care system remains one of the least efficient in the world and the most expensive (Stephen Davidson, 2010). According to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, The US health care system ranks last among eleven industrialized countries on measures of access, equity, quality, efficiency and healthy lives. The study also shows that a higher percentage of Americans skip out on the medical care they need simply because it’s too expensive. 37% of Americans don’t visit a doctor or seek out medical care because they are afraid of the cost, compared to a country like the United Kingdom, where only 4% of people there are reported to have skimped on healthcare for similar concerns. This just shows how health care in America is expensive for the ordinary American to afford. One of the reasons that worsen the situation in America is that the U.S doesn’t offer universal health care as compared to other countries; this leaves a huge percentage of the population uninsured and unable to pay for medical services.
According to Stephen Davidson (2010), there are approximately 37 million Americans who are not insured and that’s a growing concern. Prevention care is underutilized in the U.S which results in higher spending on complex diseases. Patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension etc. don’t receive the care they need for example; drug therapies and self-management services to help them manage their conditions. There have also been cases of patients receiving unnecessary and harmful treatment. People with lower incomes and of different ethnic groups are the most affected since they face great disparities in health care.
The biggest U.S health care challenge faced by the country is management challenges. The health care system is always under pressure to cut costs and improve the quality of health care (Stephen Davidson, 2010). The main challenge being use of outdated and ineffective technology in some of the facilities. The management of these health care facilities are also opposed to changes which is another barrier faced by the U.S health care system.
The U.S health care system was in dire need of reforms so that Americans can enjoy health care system like other countries. High cost of health care is one of the issues that encouraged the need for reform of American health care system. There was need to reform the health care system especially because 25 million Americans were under-insured and 37 million had no health insurance or coverage. This meant that most Americans would pay for health services out of their pockets which is not affordable to all.
Stephen Davidson (2010) notes that, Americans were and are still not getting the effective health care that they require, the cost is too high, and thus the needs for health care reform. All these challenges led to the passage of the affordable care Act of 2010. Chronic diseases in America account for seven of 10 deaths among Americans each year; this is one area that prompted the need for reform. Diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and arthritis cost the American economy trillions of dollars each year. Reform in such areas would help the country save a lot of money.
The American health care system is still facing challenges up-to-date and there is need for continuous reforms so that all Americans can have the health care system that they deserve. The cost of still too high, the population needs to be educated on areas of disease management and prevention among other areas.
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Discussion Questions consists of:
DQ 1: Why is it important to differentiate between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells? What do you think is the biggest difference between the two?
DQ 2: For the cell process assigned to you by your instructor (mitosis, meiosis, photosynthesis or cell respiration), answer the following:
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
Grading Rubric Guidelines
Performance Category 10 9 8 4 0
Scholarliness
Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic decisions. • Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry clearly stating how the evidence informed or changed professional or academic decisions
• Evaluates literature resources to develop a comprehensive analysis or synthesis.
• Uses valid, relevant, and reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion • Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry but does not clearly state how the evidence informed or changed professional or academic decisions.
• Evaluates information from source(s) to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis.
• Uses some valid, relevant, reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion. • Discusses using scholarly inquiry but does not state how scholarly inquiry informed or changed professional or academic decisions.
• Information is taken from source(s) with some interpretation/evaluation, but not enough to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis.
• Little valid, relevant, or reliable outside sources are used to contribute to the threaded discussion.
• Demonstrates little or no understanding of the topic. • Discusses using scholarly inquiry but does not state how scholarly inquiry informed or changed professional or academic decisions.
• Information is taken from source(s) without any interpretation/evaluation.
• The posting uses information that is not valid, relevant, or reliable • No evidence of the use of scholarly inquiry to inform or change professional or academic decisions.
• Information is not valid, relevant, or reliable
Performance Category 10 9 8 4 0
Application of Course Knowledge –
Demonstrate the ability to analyze, synthesize, and/or apply principles and concepts learned in the course lesson and outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations • Posts make direct reference to concepts discussed in the lesson or drawn from relevant outside sources;
• Applies concepts to personal experience in the professional setting and or relevant application to real life. • Posts make direct reference to concepts discussed in the lesson or drawn from relevant outside sources.
• Applies concepts to personal experience in their professional setting and or relevant application to real life
• Interactions with classmates are relevant to the discussion topic but do not make direct reference to lesson content • Posts are generally on topic but do not build knowledge by incorporating concepts and principles from the lesson.
• Does not attempt to apply lesson concepts to personal experience in their professional setting and or relevant application to real life
• Does not demonstrate a solid understanding of the principles and concepts presented in the lesson • Posts do not adequately address the question posed either by the discussion prompt or the instructor’s launch post.
• Posts are superficial and do not reflect an understanding of the lesson content
• Does not attempt to apply lesson concepts to personal experience in their professional setting and or relevant application to real life • Posts are not related to the topics provided by the discussion prompt or by the instructor; attempts by the instructor to redirect the student are ignored
• No discussion of lesson concepts to personal experience in the professional setting and or relevant application to real life
Performance Category 5 4 3 2 0
Interactive Dialogue
Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts a minimum of two times in each graded thread, on separate days.
(5 points possible per graded thread) • Exceeds minimum post requirements
• Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts three or more times in each graded thread, over three separate days.
• Replies to a post posed by faculty and to a peer
• Summarizes what was learned from the lesson, readings, and other student posts for the week. • Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts a minimum of two times in each graded thread, on separate days
• Replies to a question posed by a peer
Summarizes what was learned from the lesson, readings, and other student posts for the week. • Meets expectations of 2 posts on 2 different days.
• The main post is not made by the Wednesday deadline
• Does not reply to a question posed by a peer or faculty • Has only one post for the week
• Discussion posts contain few, if any, new ideas or applications; often are a rehashing or summary of other students’ comments • Does not post to the thread
• No connections are made to the topic
Minus 1 Point Minus 2 Point Minus 3 Point Minus 4 Point Minus 5 Point
Grammar, Syntax, APA
Note: if there are only a few errors in these criteria, please note this for the student in as an area for improvement. If the student does not make the needed corrections in upcoming weeks, then points should be deducted.
Points deducted for improper grammar, syntax and APA style of writing.
The source of information is the APA Manual 6th Edition • 2-3 errors in APA format.
• Written responses have 2-3 grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
• Writing style is generally clear, focused, and facilitates communication. • 4-5 errors in APA format.
• Writing responses have 4-5 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
• Writing style is somewhat focused. • 6-7 errors in APA format.
• Writing responses have 6-7 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
• Writing style is slightly focused making discussion difficult to understand. • 8-10 errors in APA format.
• Writing responses have 8-10 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
• Writing style is not focused, making discussion difficult to understand. • Post contains greater than 10 errors in APA format.
• Written responses have more than 10 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
• Writing style does not facilitate communication.
• The student continues to make repeated mistakes in any of the above areas after written correction by the instructor
0 points lost
-5 points lost
Total Participation Requirements
per discussion thread The student answers the threaded discussion question or topic on one day and posts a second response on another day. The student does not meet the minimum requirement of two postings on two different days
Early Participation Requirement
per discussion thread The student must provide a substantive answer to the graded discussion question(s) or topic(s), posted by the course instructor (not a response to a peer), by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of each week. The student does not meet the requirement of a substantive response to the stated question or topic by Wednesday at 11:59 pm MT.
