California Health and Human Services Agency, Essay Example

I am writing to you with regards to the bill proposed on February 19, 2015 concerning the an act to amend Section 1179.1 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health. According to the proposal, “existing law requires the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency to establish an Office of Rural Health” and the legislative counsel is proposing the concept of amending this law (Chavez, 2015). While minor changes are going to be made to this provision, any modifications have important ramifications for the health of individuals living in rural areas.

According to the current provisions of Section 1179.1, “The Secretary of the California Health and Welfare Human Services Agency shall establish an Office of Rural Health, or an alternative organizational structure, in one of the departments of the California Health and Welfare Human Services Agency to promote a strong working relationship between state government and local and federal agencies, universities, private and public interest groups, rural consumers, health care providers, foundations, and other offices of rural health, as well as to develop health initiatives and maximize the use of existing resources without duplicating existing effort. The office or alternative organizational structure shall serve as a key information and referral source to promote coordinated planning for the delivery of health services in rural California” (Chavez, 2015). The representative poses that it would be beneficial to remove the term “welfare” should be removed from the name “California Health and Welfare Human Services Agency”. Overall, this should be a detrimental change because it states that under these alterations, the office no longer needs to provide welfare services to its residents. Since in many cases, welfare services are related to health services, this would be detrimental for a part of the population.

Assembly Member Chávez has not provided significant justification for his opinion regarding this alteration of Section 1179.1, but it is necessary to consider that the welfare of the individuals that the office intends to serve is just as effective as the health service it provides. Ultimately, health services and welfare services are related. In particular, individuals from low socioeconomic background have benefitted from these services. Welfare provides needy California residents with the social support it needs for some individuals, which could range from providing social worker services to making free health care available for those who need it. For many individuals, health could not be achieved without additional assistance. While it is challenging to determine if the office would remove these services if the word “welfare” were to be removed from the name of the office, there is a lesser guarantee that these services would be provided.

Assembly Member Chávez’ reason for this legislation change may be that reducing the welfare services provided to California residents would save the government money, but this would not be a beneficial cut to human services. This decision would cost the local government more money than it would if these services were to be provided. Many individuals need these additional welfare services to support their health, which will enable them to avoid needing taxpayers to cover their health care bills. If these individuals are unable to remain in good health, a larger percentage of the budget will be spent. While the individuals who deserve this welfare will only suffer a slight detriment from the new wording of this bill, the larger taxpayer populace will suffer. Overall, leaving the word “welfare” as a part of the “The Secretary of the California Health and Welfare Human Services Agency” protects the overall public interest, whether it is for individuals that would require this welfare service or the individuals that would be paying for the health services of members of the population that are unable to afford their own health care.

According to the agency website, the organization currently “oversees departments, boards, and offices that provide a wide range of health care services, social services, mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment services, public health services, income assistance, and services to people with disabilities” (California Health and Human Services Agency, n.d.). While these services would still be provided to individuals to some extent, it is possible that the right to health care will be distributed disproportionately to individuals without severe need. Since people with disabilities and those who need income assistance require welfare services to the highest extent, it would be necessary to continue to protect the rights of these individuals. Overall, society benefits if the interest of the weakest members of the population benefit.

While this portion of the representative’s bill should be altered back to its original state, it would be beneficial to support his proposal to add an Office of Rural Health to support the individuals living in the rural setting of California. Currently, these individuals have a less significant access to health care compared to their peers living in urban and suburban environments. It is possible that the representative wishes to cut the word “welfare” out of the office’s name in order to provide funding for this program, but it is necessary to consider that both forms of welfare are necessary to promote the health of individuals living in the state. Overall, the proposal of the Office of Rural Health should be promoted and passed, while the removal of the world “welfare” would be denied. The best action for this short bill would therefore be to slightly revise it before it is voted on.

There is a large rural population living in California, and the proximity of these individuals to health care institutions is small. Furthermore, there are staffing and resource issues at these organizations that compromised patient care and provide patients with an overall lower quality compared to what they would receive at an urban or suburban institution. It is therefore important to take action that would decrease this health care disparity in a manner that would protect the rights of these individuals. Since many rural dwellers in the state are affiliated with farm labor, there is a continued need to ensure that they have adequate health, as their occupations expose them to stresses that many individuals living in cities do not have. An Office of Rural Health would be beneficial because it would be able to adequately assess the needs of individuals living in rural populations and to determine how resources should be distributed in a manner that promotes the health of the individuals living in these areas.

Ultimately, it is important to ensure that the health of all California residents remains protected, which would require the word “welfare” to remain a component of the “California Health and Welfare Human Services Agency”. Therefore, the bill should be revised in a manner that prevents against this new word choice. In addition, the creation of an “Office of Rural Health” should be promoted in order to ensure that the rights of the individuals living in rural settings will be protected. Rural dwellers have suffered from compromised health for too long, and it is necessary to establish this office in order to meet their needs.

References

California Health and Human Services Agency. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.chhs.ca.gov/Pages/Default.aspx

Chavez. (2015). An act to amend Section 1179.1 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health. Retrieved from http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB414&search_keywords=health