• Must include introduction and conclusion paragraphs.

To serve as an expansion upon your discussion. As you have read, public health offices throughout the nation are woefully underfunded and often restricted in their ability to create meaningful community interventions based upon the financial status of the state in which they are located. With that in mind answer the following questions:

• Explain what you believe is the basis for the ongoing tension between the powers of the federal government and the powers of the states in public health matters. Explain your answer using at least one scholarly source.
• The 2015 median per capita expenditure for health care services, as reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, is $9,255; of that money, approximately $40 of it is allocated to public health offices. What does this mean is the focus of the U.S. health care system? Explain your answer using at least one scholarly source.
• Less than 25% of all local health department directors have graduate degrees related to public health (e.g., M.P.H., D.Ph., etc.). As you are in the process of earning an advanced degree, do you believe this is an issue or that graduates of public health programs could be better utilized elsewhere? Explain your answer using at least one scholarly source.
• Describe the critical policy issues related to access to care, quality of care, and cost of care. Explain your answer using at least two scholarly sources.
• Using credible resources of your choosing and recalling what you found in Week One, find the most up to date per capita spending your state allots to public health efforts and compare that number to the amount spent per capita on healthcare in general. How do the numbers compare? Please use Alameda County
  • How many hospitals and outpatient clinics are in and around your community? (within a 30 mile radius)
  • How many of those hospitals offer emergency services?
  • How many of those hospitals and clinics offer CT scans, MRI’s, ultrasounds, and X-rays?
  • How much does a state-of-the-art MRI machine cost?
  • How many public health offices are in and around your community (within a 30 mile radius)?
  • How large is the total population of your community and its surroundings within a 30-mile radius?
  • Calculate the ratio of hospitals to people versus public health offices to people.
  • How much does a comprehensive coordinated school health program cost for 1 year (hint: read this week’s Instructor Guidance)?
  • After this research, do you feel money is being well spent in your community? Explain your answer?
  • Look further into the problem with these questions, and cite sources when utilized.