Required Reading
Blendon, R. J. & Benson, J. M. (2017). Public opinion about the future of the Affordable Care Act. The New England Journal of Medicine, 377(9). Available in the Trident Online Library.

Gallen, T. S., & Mulligan, C. B. (2018). Wedges, labor market behavior, and health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. National Tax Journal, 71(1), 75-6. Available in the Trident Online Library.

McCarthy, M. (2017). Trump demands republicans continue effort to repeal Affordable Care Act. British Medical Journal (BMJ), 358. Online. Available in the Trident Online Library.

Mendoza, R. L. (2017). Information asymmetries and risk management in healthcare markets: The U.S. Affordable Care Act in retrospect. Journal of Economic Issues, 51(2), 520. doi:10.1080/00213624.2017.1321451

Pollina, L. D., Guessous, I., Petoud, V., Combescure, C., Buchs, B., Schaller, P., . . . Jean-Michel Gaspoz. (2017). Integrated care at home reduces unnecessary hospitalizations of community-dwelling frail older adults: A prospective controlled trial. BMC Geriatrics, 17. Available in the Trident Online Library.

Stuck, A. R., Crowley, C., Killeen, J., & Castillo, E. M. (2017). National survey of emergency physicians concerning home-based care options as alternatives to emergency department-based hospital admissions. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 53(5), 623-628.

Zsilinszka, R., Mentz, R. J., DeVore, A. D., Eapen, Z. J., Pang, P. S., & Hernandez, A. F. (2017). Acute heart failure: alternatives to hospitalization. JACC: Heart Failure, 5(5), 329-336.

Optional Reading

Website Resources (may be used through the entire course)
The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. (2016). Home Page. Retrieved from http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/.

U.S. Department of Labor. (2017). COBRA continuation coverage. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/laws/cobra

U.S. Department of Labor. (2016). Frequently asked questions about portability of health coverage and HIPAA. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Please view the following videos in preparation for this assignment:

Girard, K. (2013). Health care delivery systems and occupations. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1WpakHcjRs

Scott, R. (Reporter). (2013, August 14). Outpatient services . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWKoMJoFI2I

Having completed the required readings and viewed the videos, you should now have a basic understanding of the characteristics and components of the United States health care delivery system. Health care delivery is no longer confined to the hospital setting. Over the past few years we have witnessed the emergence of outpatient surgery centers, home health, hospice, etc.

For this assignment, conduct additional research as needed to address the following questions:

1. What factors have led to care being offered outside of the hospital setting?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these settings? Who benefits the most: consumers or organizations?
3. How has the Affordable Care Act (ACA) impacted this trend? Has it encouraged more alternative settings or put care back into the hospital setting? Explain.

Length: Submit a 3-page paper, not including the cover page and the reference list.

Cardiovascular Medication Discussion. 
This is for a discussion post. There are TWO parts to this post

There are numerous medications to treat disorders of the cardiovascular system. Below are just four of the medication categories used to treat hypertension.

Diuretics
ACE inhibitors
Calcium Channel Blockers
Vasodilators

1.Discuss the difference between each medication.

2. Choose from one of the four categories listed above. Provide an example patient scenario (can be from your own experience as a nurse) where a patient would be treated with the class of medication you chose from the four listed above. You only need to provide one scenario, but make sure it is using a medication that correlates to one of the four classes above.

For example…
Patient A has _________ diagnosis. His baseline BP is _______. The physician would most likely prescribe this class of medication ___________ and more specifically this drug ________.
Of course, this is just an example to get you started. 
Please elaborate on your patient scenarios and support your statements with evidenced based literature.
Pleas provide at least two references in APA format