Policy making is dependent on information. The quantitative can serve as the evidence used to support or oppose a given initiative. However, because data is so malleable and there are such varied...

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Introduction to the Problem
Supposing that I am a member of Congress and I will be voting on a bill to amend the Affordable Care Act to mandate “grandfathered” and “individual” (self –paid) insurance plans to provide full coverage for bi-annual mammography screening for all females of 35 years and older and all females of 20 years and older who have documented
east cancer in an immediate family member. The legislation would nullify the individual state laws that have varied mandates and coverage, and grant all women access to free screening.
I have to consider the statement “Coverage of mammograms for
east cancer screening is mandated by the Affordable Care Act, which provides that these be given without a co-pay or deductible beginning with plan years starting after August 1, 2012. This doesn’t apply to health plans that were in place before it was passed (called grandfathered plans). Those plans are covered by state laws, which vary, and other federal laws” (American Cancer Society, 2013).”
Insurance companies have lo
ied me to vote against the amendment, and cancer awareness organizations (i.e. ACS, Komen) have lo
ied me to vote for it. The insurance companies highlight the costs of screening. While the advocates for the amendment use data to support the cost to benefit analysis. As a member of Congress, I have to decide to ca
y out my own research on the benefits of screening and using varied sources of data to inform my decision. After extensive research, I am now ready to cast my vote and prepare a statement for my constituency.
STEP 1
[Reviewing the course texts and navigating the various data/statistics available through the NCI, Komen Foundation, and other valid sources. Selecting two (2) data visualizations that would serve to support my chosen position and one (1) misleading data visualization, which I will critique]
From the Health Resources & Service Administration website I went through the Women’s preventive services guidelines. In the year 2018 it has published a chart for well being of woman in which the recommended preventive services are being mentioned. In order to avail the preventive measures and to eliminate the cost sharing there are insurance companies to make this affordable as well as accessible to all the women in the country. [https:
my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16805-
east-cancer-in-young-women#:~:text=Diagnosing%20
east%20cancer%20in%20younger,likely%20to%20respond%20to%20treatment.]
One act has been formed which is termed as Affordable care act, in that mammograms and screenings are also listed with no cost sharing. The frequency is made as annually.
Another dataset I have refe
ed is KFF organization. It was published on sep 26 , 2019. The title of the article is “Coverage of
east cancer screening and prevention services”. According to the data collected by the researcher team approximately 12.8% of women in their lifetime are diagnosed with
east cancer. And particularly in the middle-aged women the situation is more fatal. [https:
www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/coverage-of-
east-cancer-screening-and-prevention-services/]
Third one I have studied which I want to critique is from cleveandclinic website. It has mentioned at one point that diagnosing before 40 age is difficult as
east tissue is generally denser. So it has recommended not to go for routine screening before 40. [https:
www.hrsa.gov/womens-guidelines/index.html]
STEP 2
[In addition to the texts supplied, I will need to research financial costs of
east cancer screening...