Policy Process
The Policy Process: Part 1
Gail House
HSC/455 Health Care Policy: The Past and the Future
February 11, 2013
Bette Sorrento
In the business world or political, policy making is never an easy task. Policy making process goes through five different stages before an idea is implemented and then it is either altered or solidified to become an enacted policy. The system policy-makers use provides checks and balances that keep those in leadership roles from possessing too much control over the policy-making process. The discussion will outline the complete process of how a topic becomes a policy through the formulation, legislative, and implementation stages.
Formulation Stage The goal of health care policy is to promote and protect the health of the community and individuals. This objective can be accomplished by government officials in ways that will respect human rights, including privacy, nondiscrimination, and self-determination (Gostin, n.d.). The United States is a highly complicated and diverse society. Indeed, health policies are weighed in by many groups (Gostin, n.d.). Policymaking bodies and groups that seek to influence policies make it impossible to offer a comprehensive and systematic analysis of health policy formulation (Gostin, n.d.). However, the factors in developing sound health policies are the policies themselves, and they should not be subjected to scientific scrutiny (Gostin, n.d.). Moreover, whether Americans seek to reform the health care system, expand or restrict women’s choices to abort a child, or to authorize or criminalize physicians who assist in a patient’s death, society does not have any precise way in which to test for the correct approach (Gostin, n.d.). Decisions on health policy reflect the choices between the assessment of available data and competing data. Organizations representing, including interest groups representing various health care professionals, evaluate data, and select
Gail House
HSC/455 Health Care Policy: The Past and the Future
February 11, 2013
Bette Sorrento
In the business world or political, policy making is never an easy task. Policy making process goes through five different stages before an idea is implemented and then it is either altered or solidified to become an enacted policy. The system policy-makers use provides checks and balances that keep those in leadership roles from possessing too much control over the policy-making process. The discussion will outline the complete process of how a topic becomes a policy through the formulation, legislative, and implementation stages.
Formulation Stage The goal of health care policy is to promote and protect the health of the community and individuals. This objective can be accomplished by government officials in ways that will respect human rights, including privacy, nondiscrimination, and self-determination (Gostin, n.d.). The United States is a highly complicated and diverse society. Indeed, health policies are weighed in by many groups (Gostin, n.d.). Policymaking bodies and groups that seek to influence policies make it impossible to offer a comprehensive and systematic analysis of health policy formulation (Gostin, n.d.). However, the factors in developing sound health policies are the policies themselves, and they should not be subjected to scientific scrutiny (Gostin, n.d.). Moreover, whether Americans seek to reform the health care system, expand or restrict women’s choices to abort a child, or to authorize or criminalize physicians who assist in a patient’s death, society does not have any precise way in which to test for the correct approach (Gostin, n.d.). Decisions on health policy reflect the choices between the assessment of available data and competing data. Organizations representing, including interest groups representing various health care professionals, evaluate data, and select
References: Dykes, C. (2009). Legislative History Research. Retrieved from http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/Publications/ResearchGuides/texasleghistory.htm Gostin, L. (n.d). The Formulation of Health Policy by the Three Branches of Government. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4771&page=335 Theodoulou, S. Z. (2004 & Kofinis, C. (2004) Public Policy-Making: Implementation, Evaluation, Change and Termination. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/welcome/plsc490/print.html