Healthcare Operations Management
Assignment 1: Medicaid Expansion
Imagine that you are a health policy analyst for a state that has not elected to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). You have just been notified that the state leaders have agreed to reconsider their decision during an upcoming session. Go to the Kaiser Family Foundation Website, at www.kff.org, and The Commonwealth Fund website, at http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/blog/2014/mar/medicaid-expansion-alternative-state-approaches, for additional information on Medicaid expansion.
Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:
- Identify a state that has not elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion initiative under the Affordable Care Act. Critically analyze the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state.
- Compare the potential opportunities and challenges of a state’s decision to opt into the Medicaid expansion.
- Explore two (2) alternate approaches to expanding access to care that have been implemented or considered by states opting out of Medicaid expansion. Compare and contrast the two (2) alternate approaches to the Medicaid expansion initiative.
- Provide a recommendation to the state legislature on whether or not the state should opt into the Medicaid expansion. Provide a rationale for your recommendation.
- Use at least three (3) recent (within the last five [5] years), quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
- Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Develop policies that ensure compliance of healthcare delivery systems with current legislation.
- Apply decision-making models to address difficult management situations.
- Use technology and information resources to research issues in Health Care Operations Management.
- Write clearly and concisely about Health Care Operations Management using proper writing mechanics.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.
| Assignment 1: Medicaid Expansion | ||||
| Criteria | Unacceptable
Below 70% F |
Fair
70-79% C |
Proficient
80-89% B |
Exemplary
90-100% A |
| 1. Identify a state that has not elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion initiative under the Affordable Care Act. Critically analyze the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state.
Weight: 20% |
Did not submit or incompletely identified a state that has not elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion initiative under the Affordable Care Act. Did not submit or incompletely analyzed critically the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state. | Partially identified a state that has not elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion initiative under the Affordable Care Act. Partially analyzed critically the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state. | Satisfactorily identified a state that has not elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion initiative under the Affordable Care Act. Satisfactorily analyzed critically the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state. | Thoroughly identified a state that has not elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion initiative under the Affordable Care Act. Thoroughly analyzed critically the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state. |
| 2. Compare the potential opportunities and challenges of a state’s decision to opt into the Medicaid expansion.
Weight: 20% |
Did not submit or incompletely compared the potential opportunities and challenges of a state’s decision to opt into the Medicaid expansion. | Partially compared the potential opportunities and challenges of a state’s decision to opt into the Medicaid expansion. | Satisfactorily compared the potential opportunities and challenges of a state’s decision to opt into the Medicaid expansion. | Thoroughly compared the potential opportunities and challenges of a state’s decision to opt into the Medicaid expansion. |
| 3. Explore two (2) alternate approaches to expanding access to care that have been implemented or considered by states opting out of Medicaid expansion. Compare and contrast the two (2) alternate approaches to the Medicaid expansion initiative.
Weight: 20% |
Did not submit or incompletely explored two (2) alternate approaches to expanding access to care that have been implemented or considered by states opting out of Medicaid expansion. Did not submit or incompletely compared and contrasted the two (2) alternate approaches to the Medicaid expansion initiative. | Partially explored two (2) alternate approaches to expanding access to care that have been implemented or considered by states opting out of Medicaid expansion. Partially compared and contrasted the two (2) alternate approaches to the Medicaid expansion initiative. | Satisfactorily explored two (2) alternate approaches to expanding access to care that have been implemented or considered by states opting out of Medicaid expansion. Satisfactorily compared and contrasted the two (2) alternate approaches to the Medicaid expansion initiative. | Thoroughly explored two (2) alternate approaches to expanding access to care that have been implemented or considered by states opting out of Medicaid expansion. Thoroughly compared and contrasted the two (2) alternate approaches to the Medicaid expansion initiative. |
| 4. Provide a recommendation to the state legislature on whether or not the state should opt in to the Medicaid expansion. Provide a rationale for your recommendation.
Weight: 20% |
Did not submit or incompletely provided a recommendation to the state legislature on whether or not the state should opt in to the Medicaid expansion. Did not submit or incompletely provided a rationale for your recommendation. | Partially provided a recommendation to the state legislature on whether or not the state should opt in to the Medicaid expansion. Partially provided a rationale for your recommendation. | Satisfactorily provided a recommendation to the state legislature on whether or not the state should opt in to the Medicaid expansion. Satisfactorily provided a rationale for your recommendation. | Thoroughly provided a recommendation to the state legislature on whether or not the state should opt in to the Medicaid expansion. Thoroughly provided a rationale for your recommendation. |
| 5. 3 references
Weight: 10% |
No references provided | Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references poor quality choices. | Meets number of required references; all references high quality choices. | Exceeds number of required references; all references high quality choices. |
| 6. Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements
Weight: 10% |
More than 6 errors present | 5-6 errors present | 3-4 errors present | 0-2 errors pr |