Nowadays, nursing advocacy training becomes of paramount importance, as these specialists are considered not only as healthcare providers but also as political leaders. The latter can change healthcare legislation in a positive way (Tomajan, 2012). American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) highly supports these initiatives. It helps them find ways to redirect their proposals to the Representatives of Congress in the most appropriate form (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2010). In the context of this paper, I selected Mario-Diaz Balart, a Congressional representative from Miami, FL, to send a letter regarding the Affordable Care Act.
Chosen Congressman’s Political Viewpoint
In the first place, to establish a foundation for discussion, it is vital to describe the actions and political viewpoint of Mario Diaz-Balart. The main reason for selecting this Congressional representative is the fact that he focuses on Miami while having a 62% vote rate during the previous election (Capwiz, 2017). He graduated from the University of South Florida in 1984 and had a very active political life while being previously elected for the terms 1988-1992, 2000-2002, and 1992-2000 (Capwiz, 2017). Now, Diaz-Balart supports committees such as Appropriations and Budget ones (Capwiz, 2017).
When referring to his political views, it remains apparent Diaz-Balart represents the Republican party while his position in the majority of the cases has a positive impact on the development of the United States of America. For example, this political leader has a well-defined viewpoint regarding abortion while implying that it should not be included in the federal health coverage (OnTheIssues, 2017a).
In turn, when considering healthcare, it could be said that Diaz-Balart’s contribution to this segment was immense. For example, concerning Medicare, the Congressional representative voted for the implementation of the Ryan Budget: Medicare Choice, Tax, and Spending Cuts (bill: HCR34&SCR21), as Republicans discovered the current condition of Medicare as a threat (OnTheIssues, 2017a). They implied that making adjustments was necessary due to the importance of reducing healthcare costs and constantly rising prices for healthcare (OnTheIssues, 2017a). Another matter pertains to repealing Prevention and Public Health Slush Fund (bill: H.1217).
The primary reason for this position is the fact that it will help control money inflows and outflows and minimize costs related to healthcare while supporting only approved programs. The examples of the bills mentioned above clearly show that Diaz-Balart discovers the medical sphere from a financial perspective.
A combination of these factors may shape a perception that Diaz-Balart discovers the present healthcare system as not entirely cost-effective for the United States of America. Thus, along with the rest of the Republican party, he voted for the American Health Care Act (H.R. 1628) that tended to be a current alternative to the ACA (Mazzei, 2017). He stated that the existent system experienced a collapse while providing limited medical coverage for the 25th district (Mazzei, 2017).
In this case, Diaz-Balart expresses reasonable concerns about the citizens of the district, as they may lose their medical coverage if any amendments to the current situation are introduced (Mazzei, 2017). The members of the society do not highly appreciate some of his conflicting actions, but Diaz-Balart continues his opposition to the ACA from the start of his political career.
As for nursing issues, apart from his negative views concerning the ACA and the necessity to address the needs of the country by focusing on the American Health Care Act (H.R. 1628), Diaz-Balart voted for 21st Century Cures Act (H.R.6 – 114 Congress) to support innovation in the healthcare segment (Mario Diaz-Balart, 2016). This bill highly supports information sharing and research, as it will not only help optimize the existent infrastructure but also develop vaccines to combat the most dangerous viruses and improve the overall quality of healthcare (Mario Diaz-Balart, 2016). In the end, apart from the fact that Diaz-Balart does not have a direct impact on nursing advocacy and the healthcare sphere, his authority and active contribution to addressing nursing issues can help solve the problems related to the ACA.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2010). From patient advocacy to political activism. Web.
Anderson, A. (2014). The impact of the Affordable Care Act on the health care workforce. The Heritage Foundation. Web.
Capwiz. (2017). Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL 25th District). Web.
Mario Diaz-Balart. (2016). Diaz-Balart supports 21st century cures act for healthcare innovation.
Mazzei, P. (2017). Curbelo, Diaz-Balart vote for Obamacare replacement. Miami Herald. Web.
OnTheIssues. (2017a). Mario Diaz-Balart on abortion. Web.
OnTheIssues. (2017b). Mario Diaz-Balart on health care. Web.
Tomajan, K. (2012). Advocating for nurses and nursing. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(1), 1-4.