Advocacy Through Legislation: Children with Chronic Health Conditions

Advocacy Through Legislation
Identify a problem or concern in your state, community, or organization that has the capacity to be advocated through legislation. Research the issue and complete the sections below. For each topic that requires the listing of criteria, a minimum of two criteria should be identified and discussed. Add more rows as is appropriate for the topic/proposal.
Problem
In no more than 250 words, describe the problem, who is affected, and the current ramifications. Explain the consequences if the issue continues.

The management of children with chronic health conditions has been a major challenge across contemporary healthcare systems. It is estimated that more than twenty percent of children in the US have a chronic condition that requires medical intervention. Just like their adult counterparts, children with chronic conditions require special medical care to attain the best results (Ng et al. 2018). In 2018, a large proportion of children (0-11 years) who enrolled in Medi-Cal had weight issues compared to children of the same ages with employment-based coverage. A similar trend was observed in adolescents (12-17 years). Overweight or obese increases the risk of developing several health issues including chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma (Varty & Popejoy, 2020). Despite the worrying increase in the number of children suffering from chronic conditions, it is reported that they receive half of the recommended care. In most cases, the care provided is episodic and oriented towards acute events, without any long-term intervention measures for better outcomes. Hospitalization for children with chronic illnesses is consuming a large portion of inpatient care and resources.

Idea for Addressing Solution
In no more than 250 words, outline your idea for addressing the issue and explain why legislation is the best course for advocacy.

To achieve optimal clinical and functional outcomes, children suffering from chronic conditions need access to outpatient, specialty-based follow-up after discharge. In 2017, the Senate enacted the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2017. The Act aimed to improve the medical care of chronic conditions among patients who have enrolled in Medicare (Schor, 2018). The target beneficiaries of the legislation are mainly people aged 65 and above, as well as those with permanent health conditions under the age of 65. However, the policies of the Act can be amended to provide outpatient and clinical follow-up care for children and adolescents with chronic illnesses.
The Act was purposely meant for the Medicare population, but it can be integrated with the state Medicaid programs to benefit children and adolescents with special health care needs. For example, Medicaid can adopt most of the Act’s policies by change state regulations or provision of waiver applications to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Schor, 2018). The need for appropriate provision of chronic pediatric care can be demonstrated in California’s effort to transition children enrolled in the California Children’s Service program (CCS) into health care plans under the Medi-Cal pr...