Mitigate Uninsured Patients: A Case Study

Role of Nursing to Mitigate Uninsured Patients As a nursing profession, the American Nurses Association is advocating for a single-system payer to reduce inefficiency, simplification of rules for the health care reform that will provide a universal coverage, and curtail the increase cost of administration, as originally proposed by the Institute of Medicine in 2004 (Lopez, 2011; Groves, 2014). Nurses can stand together to petition the lawmakers in Texas to expand the current programs for Medicaid. In addition, advocate for the undocumented residents to allow them to purchase private insurance. Some safety nets for the uninsured are the state-funded hospitals, the primary care clinics by the local health departments, non-profit organizations,
and the faith based organizations. In addressing this issue, the hospital will continue to provide the same care as before by increasing enrollment into existing programs and finding a solution such as the participation in the Delivery System Reform and Incentive Payment as part of the Medicaid waiver. Nurse practitioners can be utilized more in the different health care settings to work side by side with physicians to care for more individuals in treating chronic diseases. Nurses working as case managers, patient navigators, in collaboration with the social workers will direct uninsured individuals to the community resources, and assist them in navigating the health care system. Build a strong community by coordinating health care education such as preventive screening, promotion of health literacy, using mobile clinics, and telehealth medicine to schools, shelters, and religious organizations. Collaborate with the physicians to submit grants that provide services for the uninsured.