Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet
Part 1: Agenda comparison grid
For Americans to enjoy optimal health care, they must have the benefit of high-quality health care services that are effectively coordinated within a strong public health system. According to a study that have been conducted in the U.S, delivering quality health care services to Americans is vital since this will help in promoting and maintaining health, preventing and managing diseases, reducing unnecessary disability and premature death, as well as achieving the health equity for all citizens. However, for the past decades, health has been considered as a campaign issue in the U.S that has resulted to the formulation of different health policies such as health coverage, quality, and affordability towards dealing with various health issues. For that reason, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent presidential healthcare agendas as well as communicate the significance of the selected health-related issue to a legislator for the inclusion of a plan.
Presidential Healthcare Agendas
In 1992, Democratic candidates vied over health reforms where Bill Clinton won the election, to fulfil his promise of giving Americans affordable care services. After his inauguration, President Clinton tasked the first lady, Hillary Clinton, with helping to develop health care legislation within the first 100 days concerning the health insurance reforms. However, due to late submission of the bill to the Congress and opposition from the relevant key stakeholders, Democrats lost their majorities in the House and the Senate, making it hard for the bill to be passed (Birk, 2016). As a result, this created a view that wide-ranging reform of the complicated health system was politically impossible. In 2008, health reform also became a dominant issue where President Obama supported that all Americans, including their children to be insured through Obamacare program (Konisky & Woods, 2018). After in-depth consultations with key stakeholders and comparing his rivals’ ideas, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law towards ensuring all Americans were given health care services at an affordable cost. In 2017, Donald Trump was elected as the U.S. President, where he signed an executive order to reduce the burden of the law as his administration sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Selected Healthcare Issue: Access to Healthcare
For most Americans citizens, access to health care is usually based on having a health insurance plan under a private plan or through a publicly financed program. Usually, private insurance is mainly purchased through employment-based groups and to a lesser extent through individual programs. On the other hand, publicly funded insurance is principally provided through government programs (Health insurance, 2018). Therefore, since the largest public programs are directed to the aged, disabled, and low-income populations, they cover a disproportionate share of the chronically ill and disabled. Patients who do not have health insurance are far more likely to go without healthcare that they believe they need than patients who have health insurance of any kind. Similarly, children without health insurance can be compromised in ways that will diminish their health and productivity throughout their lives (Health Care, 2017). For that reason, insurance programs are viewed to be the inception of better healthcare services and a requirement for a regular source of healthcare, since this policy increases the effectiveness in the early screening of the disease, detection and prevention.
Communicating the Importance of Access to Healthcare
As a healthcare professional, providing expertise to the legislators concerning the importance of advocating for healthcare insurance is helpful since when implemented, can improve healthcare delivery systems. Therefore, when guiding the legislator, providing stronger education concerning the importance of healthcare insurance that will be given to the people will be recommended, since this will help make them be informed, towards making effective decisions.
References
Birk H. S. (2016). United States National Healthcare Policies 2015: An Analysis wit Implications for the Future of Medicine. Cureus, 8(1), e451. doi:10.7759/cureus.451
Health insurance: Types and legislation. (2018, October 18). Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323367.php
Health Care: Issues Impacting Cost and Coverage. (2017, October 10). Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/health/health-care-issues-impacting-cost-and-coverage
Konisky, D. M., & Woods, N. D. (2018). Environmental Federalism and the Trump Presidency: A Preliminary Assessment. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 48(3), 345-371. doi:10.1093/publius/pjy009