From the time the United States was established as a country on July 4, 1776, to the present, the United States health care policies have been driven by multiple stakeholders. A book on Health Care Politics and Policy in America states, “Some of the stakeholders are part of our states, and the federal government and other stakeholders are found in the private sectors,” (Patel, K. & Rushefsky, M. E. 2020). The Public sector players include federal, state, and local governments within each branch of government: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branches of government. Our healthcare system today has the contribution of the two major political parties within the three branches of government. Each of these branches of government has contributed to and shaped our healthcare systems the way it is today. Within the public sector, the three branches of government are responsible for specific aspects of our healthcare policies and regulations. For example, each department is responsible for particular parts of healthcare policies and regulations. Our Healthcare system today in the US is shaped mainly by major political parties, the Democratic and Republican parties. Both parties cannot claim they are the only party who initiated healthcare policies in the US. “No one player or institution dominates any one state of policy Development, and the line between the branches of government has become blurred recently as to their duties,” (Patel, K. & Rushefsky, M. E. 2020). As time continues, the notion of political division in healthcare becomes more relevant to the status of the healthcare industry as well as its policies and stakeholders.
The Formation of the Republican and Democratic party
Even though from the moment the United States became a country, the founding fathers were wary of political parties. When the US became a nation, they envisioned a nation, unlike any European nation or Empire. The founding father’s vision developed quickly into two political views. However, the information provided by Khan academy informs that “Our political parties can be traced to our first presidents, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton; they both wanted a strong central government and were identified as the Federalists,” (Khan, S. 2016, July 14). Our first secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, pushed for a limited government. His supporters called themselves Jeffersonian Republicans. As time went on this party became the Democratic-Republicans. The Party of Federalism was disbanded after the War of 1812. In the 1830s, the Democratic-Republicans had evolved into the Democratic Party, leading to the rivalry between each party today.
Development History
The fifth significant healthcare reform proposal had the support of Democrats and Republicans and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. “In 1985, President Ronald Reagan signed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or Cobra as it is more commonly known, which provides employees and all states the right to retain employer-provided health coverage for up to 18 months by paying the full cost of premiums plus an administrative fee,” (Patel, K. & Rushefsky, M. E. 2020). The six proposals from the republican party had both support from Republicans and Democratic came under the Republican president; in 1988, President George HW Bush signed the Medicare catastrophic coverage Act, which expanded benefits and increased premiums. Since its enactment, this act has provided the most significant expansion of benefits under Medicare. In 1965 this coverage act was not popular because Congress repealed it in 1989 because higher-income elderly protested the premiums, which contained an income surtax to be funded by them. The next Healthcare Contribution by the Republican party was in “In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Medicare prescription drug improvement and Medicare Modernization Act, which added prescription drugs to Medicare coverage Part D. Up to this point, 25% of Medicare recipients did not have a prescription drug benefit” (Patel, K. & Rushefsky, M. E. 2020). In 2017 President Trump, a Republican president, was elected president. “President Trump was elected promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order intended to turn back ACA implementation. He has maintained a constant drumbeat of statements attacking the law, often claiming that it has already been destroyed or crippled. (Jost, T. S. 2018, August 30).
Summary of US Healthcare Status
Affordable Healthcare Act
In support of Affordable Health Care Act one of the main reasons I support this law is because it improves the health of Americans by increasing the number covered by health insurance. The ACA Lower-income individuals and families may qualify for additional savings on all the health insurance plans offered. I support it because the United States claims it is one of the wealthiest industrial nations, but our health care system does not yield the same results as other industrial rich nations. We have low birth rates, and chronic diseases or on the rise. The ACA has cut some of those statistics. . The United States spends more on health care than any other country, yet we have less to show for it.
‘ACA’ Pros and Cons
The Affordable Health Care Act has a lot of flaws. One of the flaws that Congress must address is adding to our national debt. For example, in the CBO project in 2032, the annual cost amount is projected to reach $1.6 trillion. This is a major flaw that must be addressed. As the Nation goes deeper into debt, it will not be sustainable. Many people oppose federal health care mainly because of the mandate that the law provides. And many Americans oppose it solely because they do not trust the government. For example, data that benefit politicians and stakeholders oppose it solely because of partisanship and that is unacceptable. For example, when asked what we publican that that that that that that that that. The mandate for everyone to have insurance is one part the ACA’s critics are always challenging. Another Major flaw in the law is the fact that only the Democrats in Congress voted to pass it into law. “After a bitter partisan debate, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ ACA’ was passed by the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Democratic President on March 23, 2010. No Republicans in the House or Senate voted yes and only 34 of 253 Democrats in the House voted no when asked why Republicans oppose the ACA, dubbed ‘Obamacare’ by the Republicans. Republican Majority Leader John Boehner said: Because it will destroy the best health care delivery system in the world. 1 The US healthcare system is not the best healthcare system in the world. The US is one of the few industrial nations that does not ensure that all of its citizens have ongoing access to health care. As a result, our health care outcomes such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, and life expectancy are worse than those in other Western nations,” (Dalen, J. E. 2015). For this law to achieve its purpose will require bipartisan support.
Patel, K. & Rushefsky, M. E. (2020). Healthcare Politics and Policy in America, 5th Edition. Amazon Books. https://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Politics-Policy-America-Patel/dp/0367027747
Raths, D. (2019). Stakeholders divided over ideas to update Hipaa Privacy Rule. https://www.hcinnovationgroup.com/cybersecurity/hipaa/article/21068348/stakeholders-divided-over-ideas-to-update-hipaa-privacy-rule