Running head: WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE FEDERAL & STATE

Washington County, Tennessee Federal & State elected Legislative officials Katherine Astaneh East Tennessee State University Health Policy Nurs 5001 Dr. Farrar July 6, 2013

WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE FEDERAL & STATE Washington County, Tennessee Federal & State elected Legislative officials Residing in the county of Washington, city of Johnson City and beautiful state of

Tennessee the residents of District 01 have Federal official Congressman Phil Roe, M.D. serving as their representative. Congressman Roe practiced medicine in the state of Tennessee for 31 years giving him the benefit of understanding exactly how the Medicare, Medicaid and Tenncare groups paid for care. When President Obama drew up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and set into motion a bill to help the uninsured, children under 26 and attempt to cut the cost of care while improving the quality of care Congressman Phil Roe stated, Well, as a doctor, what would this mean for me in providing care for my patients? Well, what this would mean is you couldn't afford to see the patients (Roe, 2012, para. 9) . Congressman Roe voted against the ACA in the 111th Congress and has since been leading the charge to repeal the law and replace it with commonsense forms (Roe, 2013, para. 3). Roe called the ACA unconstitutional, fighting to have the bill stopped. On June 28, 2012 the US Supreme Court upheld the health care law agreeing that the mandate can be viewed as constitutional (Levs, 2012, para. 2) and that the IRS can collect the payments solely through normal means of taxation(Levs, 2012, para. 4). I am strongly pro this law because I believe people must have health insurance coverage one way or another but if we just talk about it and wait for the perfect and agreed-by-all resolution, millions go without coverage and suffer every day, this law might not be perfect but it is here now and hopefully we will iron the kinks out as we go. Roe disappointed over the ruling, fueled up on his thoughts and has since filed and the House passed the Repeal of Obamacare Act on July 11, 2012. My congressman stated, The court only determined the constitutionality of the ACA. It did not rule on whether the law improves out countrys health care system (Roe, 2013, para.4). In response to that I must say Dr. Roe the court did exactly what we asked them to do,

WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE FEDERAL & STATE they are not economist or fortune tellers, they are lawyers, you said this is illegal and they said no it is not and now you are complaining because they did not predict if it would improve healthcare? What truly concerns me is that we elect our officials with the great hope that they will not forget their roots and they will think about me as I send them to Nashville or Washington DC; instead as soon as they get to their offices the one thing in their mind is how to

please their party rather than protect their people, people whom appointed them into the position they hold. Residing in the Senator seat for the District 03 level, Senator Rusty Crowe, Republican and my contact for Health Care information. Bill Number SB0257/HB1019 (S. Res. SB0257/HB1019, 2013) replaced current universal DNR orders to the physician orders for scope of treatment (POST). Senator Crowe has backed an issue placed into motion allowing for Physician assistants, nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists with a bona fide relationship with the patient to issue these POST for the charts. We have began this at our facility in Johnson City. I have seen a difference in the patients and their families since this implementation. Families are less stressed in attempting to recover the copy of the Living Will or the POA for the chart. The less stress a patient or family feels during the hospital stay the better for all involved. Representative Micah Van Huss, Republican sitting on the House committee for District 06, and Sniper for the good ol USMC. Representative Huss (Micah), is a firm believer in family, religion and life begins at conception and that we need to protect its sanctity. I will never vote for a bill that promotes abortion (Van Huss, 2013, para. 3). Bill HB0984/SB0362 re: ultrasound prior to abortion, with the exception for medical emergencies. To summarize this bill, Representative Van Huss wants the physician, to whom the pregnant woman has chosen to

WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE FEDERAL & STATE seek for abortion, to have a 24 to 72 hour rethinking time about the action. The pregnant woman is to have a live, real-time fetal trans abdominal ultrasound to determine the actual age of fetus. The woman is to be offered a view of the images and a copy of the ultrasound. Upon

declination the physician is to verbally give a graphic description of the fetus growing within her womb. The points to be pointed out are size of fetus, if the limbs are present, external and internal organs and lastly the mother is to hear the audible heart auscultation. No monies are to be exchanged during this time and upon the final decision of the pregnant woman documentation of the procedures followed with the signature of the physician, ultrasound medical professional and the pregnant woman, staying on file for seven years at the facility where abortion performed. The idea of looking into the mirror each day knowing at one point a heart beat once grew inside of me, knowing that I signed the life away of a precious little soul that could have made one of the worlds most astounding discoveries in medical science pushes me to say the new mandate will cause severe mental/emotional scaring. The new mandate, though Christianly correct, may open up areas for runaways to increase, teenage suicide rates and an unfortunate increase in claims of child abuse by teenagers stating they want to keep their babies but are forced to give them up by their parents. I am pro life but when it comes down to decisions about ones personal body, this is a subjective statement like pain. The only person who knows what they can mentally and physically handle is the individual . Can you handle the financial responsibility? Can the father of the child step up to the plate and call it a home? Representative Huss stands with his decision firmly from a mans standpoint, I respect that, however I will stand with mine and continue to believe that God is my rock and foundation and with His guidance anything can be solved without being put through an emotional roller coaster such as this new mandate.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE FEDERAL & STATE Representatives for my district, congressman Phil Roe, Senator Rusty Crowe and Representative Micah Van Huss have all taken oaths to improve our constitutional rights. The

decisions made and approved by the committees will be issues we as a community need to abide by as a man made law. The community is a diverse group with different religious view and frames of mind. Time will tell if the mandates can be accepted and followed 100%. These views on the ACA, POST and abortion are only my opinion.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE FEDERAL & STATE References Levs, J. (2012, July 5). What the Supreme Court ruled on health care tax [Newsgroup comment]. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/politics/scotus-health-caretax/index.html?iid=article_sidebar Physician orders for scope of treatment (POST), S. Res. SB0257/HB1019, 108th Cong., 254 Congressional Bills Tittle 32, Ch.11; Title 34, Ch. 6 and Title 68, Ch. 11 (2013) (enacted). Roe, P. (2012). Protecting Access to Health Care [Audio file]. Available from http://votesmart.org/public-statement/678695/protecting-access-to-healthcareact#.Udlp4ZUeZUQ. Roe, P. (2013). Health Care. Retrieved July 1, 2013, from http://roe.house.gov/issues/healthcare/

Van Huss, M. (2013). Micah Van Huss State Representative-Issues. Retrieved July 1, 2013, from http://www.micahvanhuss.com/index.php