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Healthcare Policy

Trisha Polite

PAD 510

05/29/2018

Assignment 2

Summary

The policy discussed I the health policy adopted by the administrations of President Obama and Bill Clinton. The policy is about the creation of various legislations geared towards managing the American healthcare industry. The policies were adopted at a time when the American healthcare system was crippled with many challenges most of which revolved around management issues, healthcare cost and quality which in the long run affected service delivery. The two presidents sought to create a level field whereby all Americans would be able to access healthcare irrespective of their social, political or financial backgrounds at an affordable cost. Other than making healthcare accessible to all, the two policies sought to make insurance policies a bit relaxed. However, the tow policies were marred by a lot of controversies. At the time of their implementation, there was a tense political environment making the policies to be criticized and opposed with a lot of force from rival political pacts.

The healthcare reforms majorly affected the social welfare of the American citizens. They were implemented at a time when the healthcare industry was under the control of the private sector. The policies also came at a time when several chronic diseases like heart attack, cancer, and HIV/AIDS were a major challenge towards the people's welfare. The policies helped to revolutionize the healthcare sector by bringing a lot of changes which enhanced service delivery. The cost of healthcare was lowered significantly and made affordable; health insurance became streamlined to cover a wide range of issues. It can, therefore, be concluded that despite the controversies surrounding the two policies, they have made healthcare to be universal and effective.

The health policies seemed to be politically contentious issues owing to the many stakeholders involved in the healthcare continuum. The stakeholders identified ones include: Generally, every American citizen can be perceived to be a stakeholder since the health policies are likely to affect them in one way or another, however in a more specific view, in the macro-level, there are various players involved in initiating a health reform. According to Teitatbaum and Wilnesmky (2007), the most important stakeholder in health policy reform is the patient. The healthcare policy has several factors which are of primary importance to the patient such as Access, quality, and affordability .

Players

There are many players involved in the process of initiating and formulating public health care policies. These can be categorized into two major groups-the unofficial and the official. The specific categorization includes:

Healthcare providers

These players include medical practitioners and their allied professionals. They are major stakeholders in the healthcare policy decision-making process and are consulted widely when formulating such policies. Healthcare organizations, for example, the American Medical Association are also part of the healthcare practitioner’s continuum (Macgillis, 2009).

Insurance providers and the government

The government both federal and state can be considered major players in the healthcare policy-making process.

The general public

The public can be considered as the general stakeholders since the decisions made by the major stakeholders in initiating any policy change will affect them in various ways.

The roles and functions

The patient

This is the most important player in healthcare policymaking. The three major factors that affect the patient with regard to policy provisions include healthcare accessibility, quality, and affordability, Most Us citizens before the initiation of the Obama care could not afford healthcare, therefore, they had problems accessing quality healthcare. According to the US Census Bureau (2008), 27 percent which is about 83 million Americans did not have health insurance (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). The Obama care ensured that there was insurance to the general public, therefore, helping to make healthcare accessible to all.

Healthcare providers

These are the bodies mandated to provide healthcare to the general public. They include medical practitioners and their allied professionals, they advise the government on various issues regarding the state of the healthcare and the areas that need reforms.

Insurance providers and the government

Both the federal and the state government have roles to play. They provide the funding and the resources required to initiate the policies. The political wings of the government are responsible for making legislation and making the policies to become legally binding. Insurance providers like the Blue Shield and the Blue cross among others are major stakeholders in policy formulation. They are influential since they have the mechanism and the resources to practically initiating the policies (Medicare, 2010).

The general public

The public is also a part of the entire chain of stakeholders. Most of the health initiatives aim the public. The role of the public is to offer support to the various stakeholders involved in creating change in the health sector .

The political influence of two players

The insurance companies

The health policies had three main objectives: to create reforms in the private insurance market, to change the manner in which Medicaid decisions are made and to expand the Medicaid to cover the poor as well. These objectives, however, depend majorly on private choices and motives rather than the regulatory mechanism of the government for them to be successful. They are based on rational decision making unfettered by other constraints but gauged by incentives. These require insurance firms to offer comparable provisions at similar rates to all with very little variations which also limits their rate increase meaning that they have to take more risks. However, insurance companies might influence the legislation of such health policies if they do not seem to work in their favor. They have the financial machinery to influence legislation and even campaign against such policies by rallying the public to oppose them.

The government

The success or failure of health policies depends on the government's support. The heads of state make promises during campaigns and once elected they strive to fulfill them, some of the policies are in line with their political agenda and they push them forward to fulfill their political motives. In the case of the Obama care, the Republicans have vowed to repeal it terming it as unconstitutional. In such a scenario the new government is not likely to support such a policy since it does not seem to be in favor of their political motives .

References

Macgillis, A. (2009, October 13). Mayo Clinic Faulted for Limiting Medicare Patients. Retrieved May 28, 2018, from Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202803.html

Medicare. (2010). Medicare eligibility. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from           www.medicare.gov: www.medicare.gov

Teitelbaum, J. B., & Wilensky, S. E. (2012). Essentials of health policy and law. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). Retrieved November 27, 2010, from www.uscensus.gov:             http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf

�First Person

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�One-Page Summary

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�Players Section Comments

>>This section does describe all of the actors required by the rubric.

>> It does describe official actors – those mandated by position to participate

>> It does describe unofficial actors – those who participate but without a legal mandate

>> It does describe interest group actors – a special type of organized unofficial actor advocating a specific viewpoint

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This essay can be improved in the following ways:

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�References

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