Running head: HEALTH CARE POLICY ANALYSIS 1

Analysis of a U.S. Health Care Policy: H.R. 2527: Vaccinate All Children Act of 2019

Tatiana Novak

Grand Canyon University: NSG-436

November 3, 2019
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Analysis of a U.S. Health Care Policy: H.R. 2527: Vaccinate All Children Act of 2019

Multiple health care policies have been created in the United States to protect patients,

health care providers, and communities. These health care policies are designed so that there are

general plans of action to follow and aim towards the priorities in health care (WHO, 2014). This

sets the foundation for a safe and effective health care system to the United States. One of the

many policies that have been designed will be discussed in this paper; H.R. 2527: Vaccinate All

Children Act of 2019. A summary of this policy, the stakeholders and how they are affected,

both positive and negative impacts, other factors that influence this policy, and any

recommended changes will be addressed in this paper.

H.R. 2527 Summary

H.R. 2527 policy is a policy regarding the need to vaccinate children in the U.S. before

attending school. There has been a recent decline in the vaccination of children which raises

concerns to the health care system about the return of dangerous diseases that have long been

eradicated from the U.S. due to vaccination use. There is an overwhelming amount of states that

allow exemptions to these vaccinations before attending school based on religious and personal

beliefs. This bill institutes a federal requirement that no states shall be allowed to offer these

exemptions unless it is for a medical reason (H.R. 2527, 2019). H.R. 2527 will demand the

vaccinations of children before entering school to ensure a less likelihood of passing dangerous

disease.

Stakeholders

The stakeholders for this policy may seem simple, however this policy will affect many

individuals besides the children getting vaccinated. The CDC explains that vaccines implement a

high amount of immunity to the individual receiving the vaccine, as well as those who are
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incapable of being vaccinated (CDC, 2018). Immunosuppressed children are unable to receive

certain vaccines that are administered with a weakened virus. These children are also highly

susceptible to these diseases should they be exposed to it. Although, if majority of non-

immunosuppressed children are vaccinated there is a far less likelihood of the

immunosuppressed population to contract this disease, thus creating a herd-immunity (CDC,

2018). The protection of both populations of children (immunosuppressed and non-

immunosuppressed) is of the upmost importance which is why this policy is created to ensure

their safety from deadly diseases by using preventable measures. The bill will be implemented

by states enforcing this new policy to the schools. The only allowed exemption is for a medical

reason, leaving no other reasoning to be accepted for exemption on admission to the schools

(H.R. 2527, 2019). With this enforcement, school aged children attending public schools must be

vaccinated for all the diseases that are required and recommended for that age group. This allows

for the decreased spread of disease and keeping certain diseases eradicated from the U.S.

Positive and Negative Impacts

As with any other bill there are going to be those that agree and oppose the policy due to

the negative and positive impacts it creates. The negative impacts are said to be the denial of

personal choice to these families and their children. They will not have the right to deny

vaccinations, forcing them the declination of being able to go to public schools. Another negative

impact is the violation of religious beliefs, as this will no longer stand as an exemption (H.R.

2527, 2019). However, the positive impact can save potential countless lives from the now

eradicated diseases that could find its way back to the U.S. and from the other dangerous

diseases that can be prevented with vaccines. This is where the ethical dilemma comes into
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place; where is the line drawn between which amendments can be broken to save invaluable

lives?

Impact on Nursing Practice

With the controversy this bill can cause, the regulations and legislative-decision making

can be a difficult process and impact nursing practice. This can occur because nurses may feel

that this is an ethical dilemma for them to partake in enforcing this new policy. On the other

hand, the American Nurses Association states that, as nurses, they should promote the protection

of the public’s health by having all individuals receive immunization against vaccine-preventable

diseases (ANA, 2015). With this stated, nurses should encourage this policy and promote the

importance of vaccinations to these children to prevent the occurrence of diseases that can be

prevented with vaccinations. The regulation of this policy will be done though the schools being

in compliance with the policy by providing proof of vaccinations of all students as they have

done in the past. Finance wise, the vaccinations can be covered with insurance and co-pays for

majority of insurances. For those who do not have insurance, there is also a CDC program,

Vaccines for Children (VFC), that offers vaccines to children at no cost. This program helps

ensure that children are getting vaccinations on time to promote healthier families (CDC, 2019).

This is an important program to have in place so that families are given the means to abide by the

H.R. 2527 policy. With this program it also helps nurses feel a sense of ease in participating in

this policy because there should be no reason this child cannot receive the vaccine for financial

reasons.

Proposed Changes

A proposed change for this policy could be the consideration of the religious belief

exemptions. By doing so it would put the policy in compliance with the freedom of religion and
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have a better representation to larger population. Although, it is understandable that this type of

exemption could be abused in the sense of parents claiming it is against their religion, when in

fact, it is not. This would have to be further discussed by legislation and compare the negative

and positive impacts it could have. Another proposed change would be to provide more

information on the benefits of vaccinations and providing evidence of how safe these vaccines

are to use. It would give families education on the topic and peace of mind knowing how safe

vaccines can be.

Conclusion

The enforcement of health care policies creates the ability to achieve specific health care

goals in the United States. This policy is put in place to provide more safety to children and

others by vaccinating children against harmful diseases that can spread quickly through a school

and community. The benefits are immunity to the vaccinated children which provides herd-

immunity to those who cannot receive vaccines to do medical conditions. The negative impact is

the idea that this policy revokes the freedom of choice and religion. This can result in an ethical

dilemma for legislation and the states to decide which is more important to enforce.
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References

ANA. (2015). Immunizations - ANA Position Statement, American Nurses Association.

Retrieved from, https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/official-

position-statements/id/immunizations/

CDC. (2018). Understanding How Vaccines Work. Center of Disease Control. Retrieved from,

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-understand-color-

office.pdf

CDC. (2019). Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program. Center of Disease Control. Retrieved from,

https://www.cdc.gov/features/vfcprogram/index.html

H.R. 2527: Vaccinate all Children act of 2019. (2019). Govtrack. Retrieved from,

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2527/summary

WHO. (2014). National Health Policies, Strategies and Plans, World Health Organization.

Retrieved from, https://www.who.int/nationalpolicies/about/en/