Healthcare Policy Change in the USA
Introduction
Indeed, quality healthcare provision remains one of the most fundamental rights of any citizens in a country. The success of better healthcare provision is based upon strong policies and legislations both at the state level and federal government. Currently, the expensive nature of healthcare in the United States is attributed to the devolved manner in which it is regulated where the federal government has ceded the primary responsibility of provision of care to state governments expect for the oversight of healthcare agencies that fall under the federal government.
It is these state departments that regulate several aspects of medical care for instance the licensing providers of healthcare, the approval of medical and pharmaceutical products (Blumenthal, 2012). The concern is whether healthcare which is at the heart of betterment of life in the society should be left to the individual states and their own autonomy or to the federal government which enjoys sufficient financial and oversight over a country’s general welfare.
Healthcare policy change
Federal government’s distinct control and oversight over national issues is one of the most important areas of concern, with healthcare at the forefront in the discussions that involve devolution. States are considered as laboratories and tinkerers that help to come up with ideas to find solutions for problems that face a country as a whole. Patel & Rushefsky, (2014) argue that they are more close to the people than the national government and are more attuned to the problems that face the citizens.
However, they are without doubt faced with a plethora of challenges in terms of controlling the healthcare system. In my opinion, one such challenge is insufficient staff and structures in place to take on the burden of exchanging new bills that help cover most citizens. States are often faced with powerful lobbyists, cartels and drug interest control groups that always want to benefit at the consumers expense.
This has led to corruption which impedes the provision of healthcare. Another challenge is the States lack control over privet insurers and autonomy from the federal laws (Obama, 2016). They face a challenge in navigating federal laws and benefit plans of employees hence lack the power to deal with healthcare insurance companies and employees (Groves et al., 2013). This has led to a problem in cost control and access to Medicare.
A transfer to a more controlled federal system that enjoys funding and is devoid of cartel control is critical to a better healthcare system. I therefore will introduce a federal reform policy that aims to seize the initiative from states when it comes to healthcare.
The bill: Transfer of healthcare to the Federal government Act
I will introduce this bill through a federal legislator who has been in the forefront in advocating for the transfer of healthcare to the federal government. The legislator is a member of my state who I voted for and has in the past associated himself with nursing organizations that work towards improving healthcare. The main champions for my bill are like minded legislators and civil society advocates from nursing organizations.
These champions are the backbone for both public awareness campaigns and education to citizens on importance of better healthcare. The first process in policy change is the formulation of the bill with the legislators and its adoption by those to champion for the bill especially lobbying during its legislation process. The lobbying will involve persuasive arguments on the benefits that outweigh the challenges. Once the legislation of the policy change has been passed it must be implemented.
Plans for implementation and next steps after passage
Once the bill is passed it must be implemented by the federal government by presidential ascent and the statute becomes law. Nursing organizations and federal agencies like Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will help come up with procedures and standards for measuring compliance (Emanuel et al., 2012). Successful implementation of this bill will depend on compliance by states and coordination of stakeholders in healthcare. The final step in the bill taking effect is the process of evaluating how well my policy is implemented and is put into action. This is done by the federal government by assessing the cost benefit ratio of healthcare to citizens.
Conclusion
Transferring of healthcare from the State to Federal government as outlined in my bill, and its successful implementation require strong partnerships between the private sector, state and federal government. The primary role of this bill is delivery of high quality healthcare devoid of selfish interests; unfairness and inefficiency by states in the market that ensure affordable healthcare systems are easily accessible.
References
Blumenthal, D. (2012). Performance improvement in health care—seizing the moment. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(21), 1953-1955.
Emanuel, E., Tanden, N., Altman, S., Armstrong, S., Berwick, D., de Brantes, F., … & Daschle, T. (2012). A systemic approach to containing health care spending. New England Journal of Medicine, 367(10), 949-954.
Groves, P., Kayyali, B., Knott, D., & Van Kuiken, S. (2013). The ‘big data’revolution in healthcare. McKinsey Quarterly, 2.
Obama, B. (2016). United States health care reform: progress to date and next steps. Jama, 316(5), 525-532.
Patel, K., & Rushefsky, M. E. (2014). Healthcare Politics and Policy in America. Public Integrity, 17(1), 94-96.
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