Running Head: MEDICARE POLICY OF 2019 MEDICARE POLICY Medicare Policy of 2019 Maria Williams Southern New Hampshire University 05/10/2020 Medicare Policy of 2019 Purpose The purpose of the Medicare program is to provide health insurance for people who have attained 65 years of age and over. Medicare is also intended to assist people below 65 years but have specific disabilities through health insurance. The health insurance program is also aimed at increasing affordable quality healthcare services among people across all age groups affected with End-Stage Renal Disease (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2020). People with a disability aged below 65 are also eligible for Medicare. Scope The scope of Medicare includes provision of health insurance coverage for the aforementioned populations. It concerned with the health interests of minority or underrepresented individuals such racial or ethnic minority groups, rural populations, the disabled, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) (CMS, 2020). The Ministry of Health (MOH) CMS office actively takes part in health-policy development, regulations, planning, and coordination of minority healthcare initiatives through stakeholder engagement (CMS, 2020). Besides, the CMS of Minority health researches, collects, and analyzes data to identify target groups and identify healthcare disparities; eliminate barriers to affordable healthcare; and develop appropriate solutions (CMS, 2020). Medicare is also applied to collect data and share knowledge on the quality, access, and costs of the available healthcare services relating to minority groups and the eligible populations. Stakeholders The main stakeholders of the Medicare healthcare program are healthcare workers and institutions such as physicians and nurse managers, and public and private healthcare facilities. Other stakeholders include health insurance companies; pharmaceutical firms and suppliers of the required healthcare resources such as wheelchairs; government institutions and healthcare organizations such as the MOH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (CMS, 2020). Beneficiaries such as minority groups and races, and the eligible populations such as people of age 65 and older, and disabled individuals aged below 65 years are also part of the Medicare stakeholders. Constituents Medicare consists of three parts namely Part A. Part B and Part C. Part A is concerned with hospital insurance and covers hospital-based inpatient care. Services covered include critical hospital access, skilled nursing facilities, and hospice care for some healthcare homes ((CMS, 2020). Formally employed people pay for the premiums through payroll taxes. Part B covers medical insurance. The services include doctors’ and outpatient services. It further covers some services not covered in Part A such as physical and occupational therapy, and specific home care services (CMC, 20.

1. Running Head: MEDICARE POLICY OF 2019
MEDICARE POLICY
Medicare Policy of 2019
Maria Williams
Southern New Hampshire University
05/10/2020
Medicare Policy of 2019
Purpose
The purpose of the Medicare program is to provide health

2. insurance for people who have attained 65 years of age and
over. Medicare is also intended to assist people below 65 years
but have specific disabilities through health insurance. The
health insurance program is also aimed at increasing affordable
quality healthcare services among people across all age groups
affected with End-Stage Renal Disease (Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services, 2020). People with a disability aged
below 65 are also eligible for Medicare.
Scope
The scope of Medicare includes provision of health insurance
coverage for the aforementioned populations. It concerned with
the health interests of minority or underrepresented individuals
such racial or ethnic minority groups, rural populations, the
disabled, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) (CMS, 2020). The Ministry of
Health (MOH) CMS office actively takes part in health-policy
development, regulations, planning, and coordination of
minority healthcare initiatives through stakeholder engagement
(CMS, 2020). Besides, the CMS of Minority health researches,
collects, and analyzes data to identify target groups and identify
healthcare disparities; eliminate barriers to affordable
healthcare; and develop appropriate solutions (CMS, 2020).
Medicare is also applied to collect data and share knowledge on
the quality, access, and costs of the available healthcare
services relating to minority groups and the eligible
populations.
Stakeholders
The main stakeholders of the Medicare healthcare program
are healthcare workers and institutions such as physicians and
nurse managers, and public and private healthcare facilities.
Other stakeholders include health insurance companies;
pharmaceutical firms and suppliers of the required healthcare
resources such as wheelchairs; government institutions and
healthcare organizations such as the MOH, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) (CMS, 2020). Beneficiaries such
as minority groups and races, and the eligible populations such

3. as people of age 65 and older, and disabled individuals aged
below 65 years are also part of the Medicare stakeholders.
Constituents
Medicare consists of three parts namely Part A. Part B and Part
C. Part A is concerned with hospital insurance and covers
hospital-based inpatient care. Services covered include critical
hospital access, skilled nursing facilities, and hospice care for
some healthcare homes ((CMS, 2020). Formally employed
people pay for the premiums through payroll taxes. Part B
covers medical insurance. The services include doctors’ and
outpatient services. It further covers some services not covered
in Part A such as physical and occupational therapy, and
specific home care services (CMC, 2020). Part D covers
prescription drugs and is available for all Medicare-eligible
populations. Eligible populations have to apply for Medicare-
approved plans offering Medicare prescription drug coverage
(CMS, 2020). Premiums for Part D are paid on a monthly basis.
Development of Medicare
Medicare was signed into law in 1965 by the then President
Lyndon Johnson with the intention of ensuring that senior
citizens in America experience the benefits of modern medicine.
Since then, Medicare has undergone several amendments
including 1972 inclusion of people with disability and minority
groups. The total national spending on Medicare currently
consists of about 20% of the US total national expenditure on
healthcare, and 14% of the total federal budget, which has
significantly filed the financial gaps in diabetes healthcare
services (Lee, 2018). Medicare was idealized in the theme of
political incrementalism. Its eligibility restriction to the elderly
populations and benefits to hospital care, and integrating
healthcare services with Social Security the Congress sought to
enact Medicare as the first federal health insurance program.
The American Medical Association (AMA) attempted to resist it
as being 90% evil and 1% effective citing the possible negative
impacts on private practice (Lee, 2018). Even President Ronald
Reagan cautioned in 1962 that after Medicare enactment, other

4. laws would follow that would undermine people’s fundamental
freedoms.
Even though Medicare was more popular in the Congress
than previous healthcare Bills, there was a shortage of one vote
for the crucial House Ways and Means Committee, implying
that it could not pass the Congress. However, Democrats
enacted Medicare when they were the majority both in the
Senate and Congress in 1965. Medicare was expanded in 2019
to include prescription drugs in Part D. From the
incrementalism perspective, it was anticipated that the law
could later be amended to have a wider coverage to include
even children and other populations. The original intention
behind Medicare as a healthcare insurance for the elderly was a
political strategy for enactment of another federal healthcare
insurance program that would expand perpetually to the national
or even global scale. The total budgetary allocation for
Medicare was $793,741.7 million that were distributed
equitably in four main areas of operation (CMS, 2020). A total
of $3,543.9, $770 was allocated for program management, and
HFAC-discretionally respectively (CMS, 2020). Furthermore,
$411,084, and $378,343.8 were allocated for grants to states for
Medicaid 1 and payments to Health Care Trust Funds
respectively (CMS, 2020). The 2019 budget included a $45
million increment proposal for promotion of quality and
effective healthcare, and fraud and waste prevention initiatives.
Rationale for choosing Medicare
My choice of Medicare is based on its crucial roles of ensuring
health insurance coverage for people of 65 years and older,
people living with disability, and patients with End-Stage Renal
Disease. My interest in the policy has also been drawn from the
challenges that the people who supported the Law experienced
before it could be enacted. While there are high standards for
future healthcare expectations such as the America Healthy
People 2020, the efforts made in order to ensure that the
standards are achieved are not enough. In as much as there are
many health policies and initiatives including Medicare aimed

5. at increasing access to quality health, healthcare disparity
across races and socioeconomic settings still exist (Dickman,
Himmelstein & Woolhandler, 2017). My main interest in this
policy is to study the approaches that those who supported
Medicare used to succeed despite overwhelming opposition
even from healthcare policy-makers and leaders. I would then
figure out the best ways of pushing important healthcare
policies to ensure that they are accepted and legislated.
Evaluation
Medicare Merits and Demerits
The merits of Medicare include the consideration for everybody
including those who do not pay premiums for Part A. All
citizens can benefit from Medicare hospital insurance without
paying premiums. The medical insurance option in Part B of
Medicare is optional meaning its coverage depends on an
individual person’s decision depending on socioeconomic
factors or the type of family (CMS, 2020). Furthermore, the
monthly premium for Part B is $144.60, which is fairer and
cheaper than ACA’s Silver Plans whose monthly premium was
$1,123 in 2015 (Shawahna, 2020). Furthermore, Medicare has a
broad eligibility scope in Part A and B, which include all
citizens aged 65 year and older, any permanent US citizen or
legal permanent residents who meet the required eligibility
criteria such as disability. Besides, Medicare has been accepted
broadly by many stakeholders in the healthcare industry
(Shawahna, 2020). For instance, 90% of US physicians
appreciate Medicare; Medicare can be used in all the 50 states
of Columbia; and Parts A and B can be used in Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa, and Virginia Islands.
There are several out-of-pocket costs associated with
Medicare. People must meet Part A deductible requirement of
$1,408 for every benefit timeframe before being covered, and
people could incur additional costs of $704 daily for inpatient
hospital stay lasting more than 90 days (Shawahna, 2020).
Medicare’s Part B includes a $198 annual deductible after
which people must also cater for 20% of the Medicare-approved

6. expenditure for covered products (Shawahna, 2020). The
number of service providers for Medicare Advantage is limited
to specific providers approved for each plan, which means that
one could incur additional costs if they settle on providers of
their choice. Furthermore, there are overwhelmingly high
numbers of service providers for some Medicare Advantage,
which increases confusion when choosing healthcare plans.
Medicare advantage only offers state-specific services, which
disadvantages frequent travelers from one state to another.
Extent to which Medicare Meets the Needs of Target
Populations
Medicare successfully provides healthcare insurance to
most of the target populations that include senior citizens and
people living with disability. There is still a big number of
people who have are eligible but not covered under Medicaid.
For instance, one out of five people in the US who are eligible
are not covered under Medicare (Barbash, Rak, Kuza & Kahn,
2017). Most of the affected people are immigrants who meet
legal citizenship requirements. The poor coverage can be
attributed to bureaucratic policies requiring procedures such as
documentation that significantly obstruct equitable access to
quality healthcare services. Furthermore, the interests of
minority groups such as the disabled populations under the age
of 65 years have not been met fully. For instance, in 2018, only
12.7%, 9.3%, 10.3%, and 67.6% of people with multiple
disability, physical disability, cognitive impairment, and
general disabilities who were eligible for Medicare benefited
from the program (Barbash, Rak, Kuza & Kahn, 2017). The
inefficiency in Medicare coverage for the eligible population
can be attributed to inefficiency in allocation of resources,
ineffective documentation approaches, and corruption among
healthcare stakeholders (Barbash, Rak, Kuza & Kahn, 2017).
Furthermore, the eligible populations are required to cater for
20% of the covered products, which makes the program
exploitative to the population that it is supposed to protect from
financial exploitation.

7. Unintended Impacts
Enrollment to Medicare means that all covered services are
to be provided in accordance with Medicare policies, and with
selected providers. The presence of predetermined providers
means that the eligible populations do not have a choice
regarding the type of healthcare services to seek or the
physicians to consult. Consequently, people from minority races
such as Black Hispanics or Asians who may opt for traditional
medicine instead of the modern medicine will not experience
satisfaction with the Medicare program (Barbash, Rak, Kuza &
Kahn, 2017). Besides, Medicare does not cater for all
expenditure. Consequently, the eligible populations are often
required to cater for uncovered costs, which impacts negatively
on the economic states of the socio-economically
underprivileged communities.

8. References
Barbash, I. J., Rak, K. J., Kuza, C. C., & Kahn, J. M. (2017).
Hospital perceptions of medicare’s sepsis quality reporting
initiative. Journal of hospital medicine, 12(12), 963-993.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2020). Medicare.
CMS. Retrieved from
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare
Dickman, S. L., Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2017).
Inequality and the health-care system in the USA. The Lancet,
389(10077), 1431-1441.
Lee, F. E. (2018). The 115th Congress and questions of party
unity in a polarized era. The Journal of Politics, 80(4), 1464-
1473.
Shawahna, R. (2020). Facilitating ethical, legal, and
professional deliberations to resolve dilemmas in daily
healthcare practice: A case of driver with breakthrough
seizures. Epilepsy & Behavior, 102, 1-14.
Running head: MEDICARE POLICY OF 2019
POLICY OF 2019

9. Maria Williams
Southern New Hampshire University
04/08/2020
Description of the Medicare Policy of 2019
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA) is
one of the most important health care policies in the United
States. The Act was passed in 2005 to protect health care
professionals and workers who report unsafe conditions in
hospitals. The policy was formulated to encourage the reporting
of adverse events and malpractices that occur in health care
centers. Such events may include medical errors and accidents.
The law seeks to protect the identity of professionals who report
such incidences while maintaining the patients’ confidentiality.
To protect patient privacy, the law imposes fines for
confidentiality breaches (Nash, 2011). The policy also bestows
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) with
the responsibility to publish a list of patient safety
organizations that record and assess patient safety data. The
Office of Civil Rights also enforces the policy among national
health care facilities. The primary goal of this policy is to
encourage health professionals to improve the safety and quality
of health care and to understand the underlying causes of
hazards in the delivery of healthcare (Nash, 2011). The policy
also seeks to encourage the sharing of such results in all states
within a protected legal framework, thereby minimizing any
risks that are associated with patient care. In so doing, the

10. policy hopes to reduce potential risks that patients are exposed
to.
Rationale and Professional Relevance
Maintaining patient safety and quality of care are some of
the most important goals of healthcare professionals. The policy
goes a long way in encouraging all health care professionals to
observe safety and quality standards. The Institute of Medicine
regards patient safety as indistinguishable from delivery of
quality care (Mitchell, 2008). Health professionals should
observe patient safety practices such as use of stimulators, bar
coding, computerized order entry, and crew resource
management to avoid errors and improve health care processes
(Mitchell, 2008). In order to comply with the legislation, nurses
and other professionals should focus their attention on defining
and measuring quality long before national and state level stress
on quality improvements. Nurses have the responsibility in
patient safety to avoid medication errors and prevent patient
falls.
Stakeholder Analysis
The success of a policy depends on stakeholder
participation and compliance. The key stakeholders of the
policy can be broadly categorized as internal or external
stakeholders. Within a health care institution, internal
stakeholders include health professionals such as nurses,
physicians, pharmacists, and clinical officers. External
stakeholders, on the other hand, include patients, community
members, government regulators, policymakers, as well as the
scholarly community. The scholarly community may include
researchers who investigate the outcomes of the policy and its
efficacy and advise health institutions and policymakers
accordingly. Government regulators at federal and state levels
enforce patient safety laws.

11. References
Mitchell, P. H. (2008). Defining patient safety and quality care.
In Patient safety and quality: An
evidence-based handbook for nurses. Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (US).
Nash, D. B. (2011). The patient safety act. Pharmacy and
Therapeutics, 36(3), 118.
Ridic, G., Gleason, S., & Ridic, O. (2012). Comparisons of
health care systems in the United
States, Germany and Canada. Materia socio-medica, 24(2), 112.
1
IHP 501 Final Project Two Guidelines and Rubric
Policy Analysis
Overview
As healthcare policy is developed and enacted, various
stakeholders are both involved in and affected by the process. In
acknowledgement of patient and
population needs, health professionals should not only
recognize when a policy initiative is necessary but also
advocate for or against policies that are being
developed or that are currently in place. It is not uncommon for
health professionals to testify on policies in front of committees

12. or policymaking bodies, like the
United States Senate. In order to do so, you must be able to
speak for vulnerable populations, demonstrating knowledge of
needs and how policy measures can
help or further harm a situation.
This project will allow you to showcase your knowledge of the
needs of vulnerable populations and possible solutions through
the promotion of health policy
initiatives. You will choose a state, national, or international
health policy to critically analyze and ultimately determine the
policy’s effectiveness in helping its
intended population target. Through research and an interview
with a stakeholder in the policy to support your analysis, you
will advocate on behalf of the
affected population by either promoting or opposing the policy
through a written testimony directed toward an appropriate
policymaking body.
Final Project Two requires the creation of a policy analysis and
a testimony advocating for or against a policy impacting a
vulnerable population. The final
product represents an authentic demonstration of competency
because these are real work tasks completed by health
professionals advocating to promote
global health and policy improvement for vulnerable
populations around the globe. The project is divided into three
milestones, which will be submitted at
various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and
ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be
submitted in Modules One, Five, and
Seven. The final product will be submitted in Module Nine.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the
following course outcomes:

13. communities and healthcare organizations in the United States
and internationally
organizations and stakeholders in promoting global health,
service delivery, and healthcare policy
informing health initiative recommendations
access, equity, and health outcomes based on identified
population needs
with stakeholders on healthcare policy initiatives
2
Prompt
For this project, you will select a state, national, or
international policy in which the United States is involved to
critically analyze, interview a stakeholder of the
policy, perform substantial research on the impacted
populations, evaluate the policy for ethical adherence, and
ultimately advocate for or against the policy
using research to support your claims. You are expected to

14. communicate with a stakeholder through an interview, which
you will complete during the course.
Pieces of this interview should be used to guide your research
and should be cited as support in your final analysis paper. The
final submission should be in the
form of a research-backed, persuasively written paper. Attach a
transcript of a testimony you would give to an appropriate
policymaking body, which should be
a complete, but concise, synthesis of your recommendations.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Introduction
A. Summarize the policy that is the focus of your evaluation.
Include in your summary the purpose of the policy, its scope
and main points, its
stakeholders and constituents, and its relation to other policies
(if applicable).
B. Explain the development of the policy, considering
policymakers and their political standing, timelines, and budget
restrictions.
C. Explain your rationale for choosing the policy, using your
research as support for your choice.
II. Evaluation
A. Determine the policy’s strengths and weaknesses in its
ability to provide positive and/or negative change for its target
population. Support your
response with examples.
B. Assess the extent to which the policy meets the needs of its
target population, using data to support your claims.

15. C. Explain any unintended impacts as a result of the policy.
Consider populations, economics, and social or cultural factors
in your response.
III. Recommendations
A. Evaluate the efficacy of the policy in addressing population
needs without negatively impacting the target population or
other populations.
B. Justify key areas of improvement that could better the policy,
supported with evidence.
C. Recommend an appropriate policy improvement supported by
your research.
D. Advocate for or against the policy in a concise, supported
statement.
IV. Testimony: Draft a testimony transcript advocating for or
against the policy, including any recommendations to improve
the policy. Be sure to direct the
testimony toward an appropriate policymaking body (e.g., a
Senate committee).
3
Milestones
Final Project Two Milestone One: Policy Proposal and
Interview
In Module One, you will select a state, national, or international

16. healthcare policy and briefly describe it. After identifying a
legal or governmental healthcare
policy for analysis, develop a narrative that explains why you
chose the selected policy, lists three key stakeholders you
would like to interview about the policy,
and explains how each individual is related to or affected by the
policy. Your instructor will approve your policy and interview
suggestions for use in your final
project. This milestone will be graded with the Final Project
Two Milestone One Rubric.
Final Project Two Milestone Two: Policy Introduction and
Evaluation
In Module Five, you will develop a paper summarizing the
policy approved for your project, and analyze the effectiveness
of the policy. In addition to your
research, incorporate the information gathered during your
interview to provide additional support for your policy
assessment. This milestone will be graded
with the Final Project Two Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Project Two Milestone Three: Policy Recommendations
In Module Seven, you will evaluate the efficacy of the policy
you analyzed and propose recommendations for or against the
policy. Concentrate on how to
improve the chosen policy in order to limit negative impact to
the target population or other populations while increasing the
positive impact. Take a stand on
the policy and advocate for or against it; make sure to support
your position with research. When thinking about your
recommendations, think about how the
policy affects the population’s well-being and health. This
milestone will be graded with the Final Project Two Milestone
Three Rubric.
Final Project Two Submission: Policy Analysis and Testimony

17. Transcript
In Module Nine, you will submit Final Project Two. It should be
a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical
elements of the final product. It should
reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the
course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project
Two Rubric.
Deliverables
Milestone Deliverable Module Due Grading
One Policy Proposal and Interview One Graded separately;
Final Project Two Milestone One Rubric
Two Policy Introduction and Evaluation Five Graded separately;
Final Project Two Milestone Two Rubric
Three Policy Recommendations Seven Graded separately; Final
Project Two Milestone Three Rubric
Final Submission: Policy Analysis and
Testimony Transcript
Nine Graded separately; Final Project Two Rubric
4
Final Project Two Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your final submission should be 8

18. to 10 pages in length (not including title, reference, or appendix
pages) with a 3- to 5-page
testimony attached as an appendix. Use 12-point Times New
Roman font, double spacing, and the most recent APA standards
for formatting and referencing.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs
Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Introduction: Policy
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
summary demonstrates keen
insight into the main points of
the policy and its purpose
Summarizes the policy that is the
focus of the evaluation,
including the purpose of the
policy, its scope and main points,
its stakeholders and
constituents, and its relation to
other policies (if applicable)
Summarizes the policy that is the
focus of the evaluation,
including the purpose of the
policy, its scope and main points,
its stakeholders and
constituents, and its relation to
other policies (if applicable), but
summary is missing key
elements, is cursory, or contains
inaccuracies

19. Does not summarize the policy
that is the focus of the
evaluation
8.77
Introduction:
Development
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates
advanced knowledge of policy
development
Explains the development of the
policy, considering policymakers
and their political standing,
timelines, and budget
restrictions
Explains the development of the
policy, considering policymakers
and their political standing,
timelines, and budget
restrictions, but explanation is
missing key elements, is cursory,
or contains inaccuracies
Does not explain the
development of the policy
8.77
Introduction:

20. Rationale
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
support used in explanation
demonstrates keen insight into
reasoning behind the policy
choice
Explains the rationale for
choosing the policy, using
research as support for the
choice
Explains the rationale for
choosing the policy, but
explanation is cursory, illogical,
or unsupported or contains
inaccuracies
Does not explain the rationale
for choosing the policy
8.77
Evaluation:
Strengths and
Weaknesses
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
determination demonstrates
keen insight into the relationship
between the strengths and
weaknesses of the policy and its
ability to effect change

21. Determines the policy’s
strengths and weaknesses in its
ability to provide positive and/or
negative change for its target
population, supported with
examples
Determines the policy’s
strengths and weaknesses in its
ability to provide positive and/or
negative change for its target
population, but determination is
cursory, illogical, or unsupported
or contains inaccuracies
Does not determine the policy’s
strengths and weaknesses in its
ability to provide positive and/or
negative change for its target
population
8.77
5
Evaluation: Needs
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
the assessment uses data that
demonstrates an advanced
ability to support claims based

22. on the needs of the population
affected by the policy
Assesses the extent to which the
policy meets the needs of its
target population, using data to
support claims
Assesses the extent to which the
policy meets the needs of the
target population, but
assessment is illogical, contains
inaccuracies, or uses insufficient
data to support claims
Does not assess the extent to
which the policy meets the
identified needs of its target
population
5.85
Evaluation:
Unintended
Impacts
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation provides a
sophisticated awareness of the
impacts of the policy
Explains any unintended impacts
as a result of the policy,
considering populations,

23. economics, and social or cultural
factors
Explains any unintended impacts
as a result of the policy, but
explanation is cursory, illogical,
or incomplete or contains
inaccuracies
Does not explain any unintended
impacts as a result of the policy
7.02
Recommendations:
Efficacy
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
evaluation demonstrates
advanced knowledge of the
relationship of the policy’s
efficacy to the impact it has on
populations
Evaluates the efficacy of the
policy in addressing population
needs without negatively
impacting the population or
other populations
Evaluates the efficacy of the
policy in addressing population
needs without negatively
impacting the population or
other populations, but

24. evaluation is cursory or illogical
or contains inaccuracies
Does not evaluate the efficacy of
the policy in addressing
population needs without
negatively impacting the
population or other populations
8.77
Recommendations:
Improvement
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
justification demonstrates keen
insight into areas of
improvement specific to the
policy
Justifies key areas of
improvement that could better
the policy, supported with
evidence
Justifies areas of improvement
that could better the policy, but
justification is unfocused or
illogical, lacks supporting
evidence, or contains
inaccuracies
Does not justify areas of
improvement that could better
the policy

25. 5.85
Recommendations:
Recommend
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
recommendation demonstrates
expert knowledge of how the
policy could be improved
Recommends a policy
improvement supported by
research
Recommends a policy
improvement, but
recommendation is illogical,
contains inaccuracies, or has
insufficient supporting research
Does not recommend a policy
improvement
11.70
Recommendations:
Advocate
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
the statement demonstrates
keen insight into how the policy
can be advocated for or against

26. Advocates for or against the
policy in a concise, supported
statement
Advocates for or against the
policy, but statement is long-
winded, lacks support, is
illogical, or contains inaccuracies
Does not advocate for or against
the policy
11.70
6
Testimony
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
the transcript masterfully
represents advocacy for or
against the policy and
demonstrates keen insight into
the audience to which it is
directed
Drafts a testimony transcript
advocating for or against the
policy, including any
recommendations to improve
the policy, directed toward an
appropriate policymaking body

27. Drafts a testimony transcript
advocating for or against the
policy, directed toward a
policymaking body, but
testimony is an inappropriate
length, is illogical, does not
recommend any improvements,
is directed toward an
inappropriate audience, or
contains inaccuracies
Does not draft a testimony
transcript advocating for or
against the policy
11.70
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to APA citations,
grammar, spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented in
a professional and easy-to-read
format
Submission has no major errors
related to APA citations,
grammar, spelling, syntax, or
organization
Submission has major errors
related to APA citations,
grammar, spelling, syntax, or

28. organization that negatively
impact readability and
articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to APA citations,
grammar, spelling, syntax, or
organization that prevent
understanding of ideas
2.33
Total 100%