Agency: Us Department of Veteran Affairs

WEEK 2 HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED BY: Name (Group B)

SUBMITTED TO: Professor. Ravi Mistry

DATE: September 16,2015

1. State the administrative agency that controls the regulation. Explain why this agency and your proposed regulation interest you (briefly). Will this proposed regulation affect you or the business in which you are working? If so, how?

AGENCY: US Department of Veteran Affairs

Interests:

• My friend is soon to retire from the military and will be a veteran. He will be using a VA facility and being prescribed medication as well.

• Another interest is to know the facts of how the regulation actually regulates rather than on word of mouth.

How does it work?

VA provides a Medical Benefits Package to all enrolled Veterans. This comprehensive plan provides a full range of preventive outpatient and inpatient services within VA health care system. Once an individual has enrolled in the VA’s health care system, they can be seen at any VA facility across the country. VA operates an annual enrollment system that helps to manage the provision of health care by providing an overall population of beneficiaries. Additionally, the enrollment system ensures that Veterans who are eligible can get care and ensures that care is given to Veterans who are eligible. VA applies a variety of factors in determining Veterans’ eligibility for enrollment, but once a Veteran is enrolled, that Veteran remains enrolled in the VA health care system.

Effects of regulation:

• This will affect his family financially once he retires because his income will decrease, but his prescription co-pay will increase. He currently has no copay for his prescriptions, but if he had, it would be substantial.

• There are many ways that a Veteran may qualify to receive top-notch VA health care at over 1,400 medical centers and clinics across the nation. The VA has highly trained physicians and clinicians that allow the VA to address many specialties. Individuals may also be able to receive assistance with prescription medication. VA health care is portable. Once enrolled, they may receive care at their home facility as well as the nearest VA facility while traveling.

Personal example: My uncle is a Vietnam veteran and uses the VA for all of his medical care. He just had an open-heart surgery at the VA hospital in Palo Alto however he lives in Las Vegas. He is now forced into retirement and he can no longer work full or part time, his income was cut drastically and there is no way he would be able to afford a higher co-payment for his medical expenses.

2. Describe the proposal or change.

• The proposal mentioned above will increase the costs of the copayment that some veterans pay for outpatient prescriptions. Some veterans will be excluded from the proposal, but most of them would be affected because they don’t meet the exclusion requirements.

• The VA's prescription benefit ensures that our Veterans receive safe, effective, medically necessary medications that represent a good value. If a VA primary care provider is treating individuals, they will be provided all necessary medications for their treatment. Some Veterans may receive their VA medications free of charge based on their service-connected disabilities. While others, who do not have service-connected disabilities are charged a copayment for each 30 day supply of medications VA provides.

3. Write the public comment that you would submit to this proposal. If the proposed regulation deadline has already passed, write the comment you would have submitted. Explain briefly what you wish to accomplish with your comment.

• We think that because there is a decline in the amount paid to an active duty service member, their experiences when transitioning to a retired veteran, no part of healthcare costs should be increased, especially prescription costs. Many active duty members are forced to retire due to injuries lingering on to them while on a tour of duty or in a war. They may be disabled and not be able to work, or have psychiatric and mental conditions, such as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). These soldiers return to our nation requiring an extensive amount of care and treatment, which alone, can dramatically raise the costs of their healthcare and the required prescriptions needed for them to function at a normal capacity level. Not to mention, many may be disabled and not able to fully and competently perform on a full time or part time job. This lowers their income and enables them to provide for their families as they would like. Even retirees with no injuries will be downsizing in pay. These service members have done so much to take care of our country, that it is time that our country takes care of them. The burden should not be put on them by the increase in the prescription copayments.

• We also paid attention to the national commitment and personal debts given to our Veterans and it is certainly fair for the VA healthcare system to maintain a high standard. In response to criticism in the 1990s about its quality of care, the VA initiated a major reengineering effort, whose principal components included better use of information technology, measurement and reporting of performance, and integration of services. In this respect, the VA system was far ahead of a US healthcare system that was yet to embrace information technology and in the nascent stages of performance measurement. By 2000, patients in