WSB/4/2
Sponsored by Sairaksha Vadlapati, Ashwika Chitreddy of Ravenwood High School
This legislation was filed in the Health category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: |
| 4 | Charity case: A term used to refer towards an individual facing debt from hospital bills, qualifying |
| 5 | for the hospital’s financial assistance policy. |
| 6 | Medical camp: A temporarily organized activity within a specified locality in order to provide free, |
| 7 | subsidized or sponsored medical or dental services, surgical, educational and diagnostic services or |
| 8 | treatment. |
| 9 | Postgraduates: A student who has successfully completed an undergraduate degree level course at |
| 10 | a college or university and is undertaking further study at a more advanced level. |
| 11 | Initial cost: Expenses incurred at the beginning of a business venture or the start of a new project. |
| 12 | Financial Instability: A real or expected threat to financial markets or financial institutions due to |
| 13 | an event, which could potentially, if public authorities do not intervene, lead to problems. |
| 14 | Healthcare: The improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or |
| 15 | cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. |
| 16 | Socio-economic: Society’s social and economic interactions, covering a wide range of activities. |
| 17 | Medical students: A person following a course of study leading to qualification as a doctor of |
| 18 | medicine. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Section 2: The purpose of this bill is to ensure that the people of Tennessee receive health care, |
| 21 | which is a right. By 2030, a shortage of 20,000-50,000 primary care physicians is estimated to |
| 22 | occur, although TN is already facing backlash witnessing these effects. Although previous attempts |
| 23 | have been implemented towards this cause, the guarantee it holds for the long-term suggests the |
| 24 | instability of many. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Section 3: In order to combat this conflict, we will create clinical camps every two months with an |
| 27 | advisor, open for medical students to facilitate underprivileged areas. These camps are essentially |
| 28 | tents, facilitated in order to provide an educational opportunity for postgraduates, along with |
| 29 | additional aid to charity cases occurring in numerous hospitals. Consider the many rural areas |
| 30 | averaging the majority of individuals with a 30 minute- 1 hour drive, in order to seek any form of |
| 31 | medical attention. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Section 4: We ask the Tennessee Department of Health to fund an estimated $860,000 to our |
| 34 | cause. Our cost breakdown includes the entirety of medical supplies (gloves, first aid, |
| 35 | antibiotics/medication, sanitary equipment, needles, emergency aid, etc.), ranging from $30,000- |
| 36 | 50,000 per year, site utilities (electricity, water, gas), almost $300,000 including the building of |
| 37 | the tents and shelter as its initial cost, as well as further resources, in accordance with the rest of |
| 38 | |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Section 5: We will implement our plan over the course of 3 years at minimum, establishing further |
| 41 | connections between medical care and struggling areas residing with audiences of financial |
| 42 | disregard/instability. By providing basic aid and help for those lacking, we concur with the need to |
| 43 | develop stability towards “healthcare” and checkups. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Section 6: With the funding already provided from the Department of Health, we wish to engage |
| 46 | this cause with other nonprofits/organizations holding similar goals. This includes St. Jude |
| 47 | Children’s Research Hospital, Mountain Peoples Health Council, Sweetwater Hospital Association, |
| 48 | etc. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Section 7: Given that this plan provides care to those in need, this call-to-action also presents |
| 51 | medical students opportunities to gain exposure to high medical needs, gaining awareness of |
| 52 | socio-economic issues that purvey the dire situation of the lack of medical attention in TN. These |
| 53 | students receive the hands-on experience needed to further succeed in patient care. |
| 54 | |
| 55 | Section 8: All laws or parts of laws in conflict are hereby repealed. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | Section 9: This act shall take place as soon as enacted, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 58 |