BSB/3/16
Sponsored by Ruhee Gupta, Meghana Sappidi, Lillyanne Smith of Ravenwood High School
This legislation was filed in the Health category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | (A) American Red Cross- a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides emergency |
| 5 | assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States |
| 6 | (B) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)- the national public health agency of the |
| 7 | United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human |
| 8 | Services. |
| 9 | (C) Emergency medicine physicians - medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, |
| 10 | and management of acute and life-threatening medical conditions that require immediate |
| 11 | intervention |
| 12 | (D) Motorhome- a motor vehicle equipped like a trailer for living in, with kitchen facilities, beds, |
| 13 | etc. |
| 14 | (E) Primary Care Physicians- medical doctors who specialize in family medicine, internal medicine, |
| 15 | geriatrics, and pediatrics and are often the first point of contact for patients. The primary health |
| 16 | care they provide includes routine physical tests, prescription of medicines, and treating and |
| 17 | managing minor to acute illnesses. |
| 18 | (F) Tennessee Department of Health- a primary agency of state government in Tennessee |
| 19 | responsible for public health. Its workforce provides a variety of direct and indirect services to |
| 20 | residents and visitors in all 95 counties of the state. |
| 21 | (G) United States Department of Agriculture- a federal executive department responsible for |
| 22 | developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, |
| 23 | and food. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Section 2: This act aims to create a program to partner with local healthcare providers, community |
| 26 | organizations, and government agencies to identify areas in rural Tennessee with limited access to |
| 27 | healthcare services and resources. According to the United States Department of Agriculture |
| 28 | (USDA), there are approximately eight hundred fifty-six thousand, six hundred forty-three |
| 29 | (856,643) rural households in Tennessee, many of which may have limited access to healthcare |
| 30 | services. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Section 3: The purpose of this act is to create a program in order to recruit a team of doctors and |
| 33 | interns in the healthcare field who are willing to travel to these rural areas for a few weeks at a |
| 34 | time to conduct healthcare education sessions. The doctors will be paid one hundred thousand |
| 35 | dollars ($100,000) per year, while the interns will be paid fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per |
| 36 | year, which is subject to change based on inflation. The doctors will consist of one primary care |
| 37 | physician and one emergency medicine physician. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Section 4: The team of doctors and interns will teach a curriculum that encompasses basic |
| 40 | information on health care nutrition information, preventative techniques, common illnesses, |
| 41 | illness symptoms, and hands-on training and demonstrations on topics such as CPR, first aid, and |
| 42 | self-care practices. The purpose of including interns is to provide a unique and educational |
| 43 | experience for the interns, while also educating and improving healthcare knowledge in rural areas |
| 44 | of Tennessee. The primary care physicians will focus on general healthcare basics, while the |
| 45 | emergency medicine physicians will focus on training for emergency situations. This curriculum |
| 46 | only aims to ensure that the citizens have the necessary knowledge and supplies to respond to an |
| 47 | emergency in a critical situation, until help arrives, and to teach citizens how to recognize illnesses |
| 48 | and minor injuries so that they know to seek help. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Section 5: The team will reach out to mayors or representatives of rural cities in Tennessee to set |
| 51 | up the sessions in local churches, schools, and other communal areas to ensure that they are |
| 52 | easily accessible to the public. These local mayors and representatives will be responsible for |
| 53 | spreading the word and making sure that at least one legal adult from each household attends the |
| 54 | session. When attending a session, citizens must bring some sort of identification, such as a |
| 55 | passport, license, etc., with them to ensure that they are who they claim to be. The team will allot |
| 56 | two weeks time in each town. The entirety of this time may or may not be used, depending on the |
| 57 | amount of people that are being catering to. The team will set up multiple sessions so that people |
| 58 | can attend on a day that works best for them. If one person from a household cannot attend the |
| 59 | session, they will have to fill out mandatory paperwork explaining why they cannot attend and |
| 60 | submit it to the program. If the requirement of one person per household is not met, and the |
| 61 | missing person/people don’t fill out the paperwork, they will be subject to a fine. This fine will be |
| 62 | decided based on their income and will be implemented back into the program. |
| 63 | |
| 64 | Section 6: This act will repeat every twenty years with the team working actively for five years, |
| 65 | then waiting fifteen years before repeating. In this five year term, the two (2) doctors will stay |
| 66 | constant and active, while the interns will change every year. In total, every twenty years, two (2) |
| 67 | doctors and fifteen (15) interns will be involved at some point or another. In this act, the doctors |
| 68 | may repeat for another five (5) year term, or more, if they are hired to do so. By having the cycle |
| 69 | repeat every twenty years, this act ensures that future generations also have the opportunity to |
| 70 | gain the vital healthcare training and knowledge that is presented to the citizens during the |
| 71 | sessions. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | Section 7: Those employed will sign a contract for five (5)-year employment. It is also possible for |
| 74 | any member of the team to be rehired. The team will travel and stay in motorhomes that will be |
| 75 | provided by the program for five years and will be responsible for their meals, gas to power the |
| 76 | motorhome, and any other necessities. The motorhomes will change with the employed members, |
| 77 | meaning that the same three (3) motorhomes will be given to each year of interns. |
| 78 | |
| 79 | Section 8: As of 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), |
| 80 | Tennessee ranked second nationwide for the most accidental deaths, with one hundred twenty- |
| 81 | eight (128) deaths per one hundred thousand (100,000) residents. After each session, one (1) |
| 82 | person from each household will receive a complimentary official American Red Cross first aid kit. |
| 83 | These kits cost fifteen dollars ($15) each and will be paid for by the Tennessee Department of |
| 84 | Health. The kits contain essential items for treating cuts, scrapes, burns, and many other injuries. |
| 85 | These kits will ensure that citizens in rural areas, who may not have access to hospitals, can treat |
| 86 | minor injuries, as well as prevent major injuries from becoming more serious until proper help is |
| 87 | assured. |
| 88 | |
| 89 | Section 9: This program will cost fifteen million, two hundred fourteen thousand, six hundred |
| 90 | forty-five dollars ($15,214,645), and will suffice for one rotation (twenty (20) years). This will be |
| 91 | |
| 92 | seven million, two hundred seventeen thousand, six hundred dollars ($947,217,600). The cost of |
| 93 | this bill for twenty (20) years is only 1.06% of the total Tennessee Department of Health’s annual |
| 94 | budget. The money will be a one (1)-time payment that will suffice for twenty (20) years. The |
| 95 | price may fluctuate in the years following the cycle, depending on the changing economy. The |
| 96 | salary of the doctors over five years will cost one million, seven hundred fifty thousand dollars |
| 97 | ($1,750,000). Twelve million, eight hundred forty-nine thousand, six hundred forty-five dollars |
| 98 | ($12,849,645) will be used to supply first aid kits to eight hundred fifty-six thousand, six hundred |
| 99 | forty-three (856,643) rural households. The cost of the motorhomes is six hundred fifteen |
| 100 | thousand dollars ($615,000), not including gas and/or repairs. |
| 101 | |
| 102 | Section 10: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 103 | |
| 104 | Section 11: This act shall take effect January 1, 2025. |
| 105 |