Discussion 3, response, lesson

5

Lisa.

Federal Health Policy: Legislation, Regulations, and Rules

Understanding legislation: A policy is defined, “as a decision made by an authority about an action, either one to be taken or one to be prohibited, to promote or limit the occurrence of a particular circumstance in a population (Shi, 2019).” In the United States the Legislative, Executive, or Judicial Branches of the government make the policies from topics brought to them from the Federal, State, or Local public administration. Legislation, or law making, is done at the Federal level through the Congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Because the US Constitution grants Congress the power to use any reasonable means not directly prohibited by the Constitution to carry out the will of the people, Congress can enact laws spanning a wide variety of health policy issues (Shi, 2019). The Federal Government plays several different roles in the American health care arena, including regulator; purchaser of care; provider of health care services; and sponsor of applied research, demonstrations, and education and training programs for health care professionals (Shi, 2019).

How a law gets passed has many steps. An abbreviated explanation of the Federal Legislative process is as follows:

· Bill is introduced in Congress

· Bill is assigned to a congressional committee who assigns it to the affected agencies

· After committee approval, bill is scheduled for congressional consideration

· Bill is passed in Congress

· Bill is presented to the President

· President signs bill into law

The three major stages of policymaking are policy formulation, where the law is developed, policy implementation, which is putting the law in to operation, and policy modification, which means the law can be modified (Shi, 2019). Understanding Regulations- The Federal Government institutes regulations which are measurements of quality assurance. Regulations establish minimal health care standards which protect beneficiaries from incompetent, impaired, and inadequately trained clinicians and from health care organizations (Corrigan et al., 2003).

 Understanding Rule Making- In this process, experts from multiple disciplines and backgrounds, such as science, economics, and industry, are brought together to agree on the rules by which the new law will be enforced (Corrigan et al., 2003). During the preliminary stage of information collection and as part of the comment or negotiation period, the public, both individuals and groups, may also can provide input on the terms of the proposed rule. After the rules or regulations are finalized, they become the guidelines for operationalizing the law (Shi, 2019).

 

Resources

Corrigan, J., Eden, J., & Smith, B. M. (2003). Leadership by example: Coordinating government roles in Improving Healthcare Quality. National Academies Press.

Leiyu Shi. (2019). Introduction to Health Policy, Second Edition: Vol. Second edition. Health Administration Press.

Dia

The topic that I will be discussing this week is The Affordable Care Act (ACA): Impact, Defining Value, and Healthcare Reform. According to (Shi. L. 2019,) the Affordable Care Act (ACT) is a reform initiative that was drafted by the Obama administration. This initiative became federal law in March 2010 and has since had many appeals and modifications. The ACA aimed to reform the private health insurance market, extend insurance coverage to those uninsured, provide better overall coverage to those with medical conditions and improved drug coverage for Medicare recipients. The primary goal of this act was to provide most and hopefully all Americans with health insurance coverage. The ACA is extremely valuable to many because it brought a feeling of hope and change to a struggling system. 

 

According to (Shi. L 2019,) healthcare reform is an issue in U.S politics. There seems to be a political gridlock in congress which has made efforts to reform healthcare challenging. There is a lack of an overall common goal for democrats and republicans when it comes to healthcare reforms. It seems that one political party aims to help ensure more affordable healthcare for all while one does not. This is disheartening because affordable healthcare should be easily accessible to all! Healthcare reform is needed not just nationally but also international. I think a lot of the time we forget that healthcare services exist to serve the community and the patients they service overall, yet most of the time this basic fact is overlooked due to a surplus of things.

 

According to (Harrill & Melon 2021,) for many decades data has shown that patients base their economic decisions relating to their consumption of healthcare on the cost. Typically, the higher the cost the more selective the patient becomes. Consumers are being forced to go into substantial amounts of debt for their insurance or lack thereof. The Affordable Care Act has had an impact on so many people. A question my research leads me to ask is “if the political gridlock in congress was nonexistent and the people in power who oversee these laws and policies put in place looked at the end goal from a people centered view, would a common goal be so hard to obtain?” I believe that healthcare reform consists of so many pieces and there are so many hands in the pot. If those in power remembered the reason in which healthcare was created in the first place, the world might look a bit different. Health policies such as the ACA are steppingstones in the right direction but there is still so much work to be done.

 

References:

Leiyu Shi. (2019). Introduction to Health Policy, Second Edition: Vol. Second edition. Health Administration Press.

Introduction to Health Policy, Second Edition (umgc.edu)

 

Harrill, W. C., & Melon, D. E. (2021). A field guide to U.S. healthcare reform: The evolution to value‐based healthcare. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, 6(3), 590–599.  https://doi-org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.1002/lio2.575