Health Policy and Legislation

Introduction to Health Policy

The concept of health policy poses multiple legislative, regulatory, financial, and practical questions. Its primary goal is to protect health. To be successfully implemented, the concept requires accomplishing numerous tasks that do not contradict any of the four above-mentioned aspects. Normally, the health policy is initiated and conducted by governmental machinery. Nevertheless, interest groups tending to influence the concept’s implementation try to contribute to the improvement of medical practice too. Therefore, for the policy to remain acceptable, a close cooperation on all levels is required.

Health Policy and Legislation

Public laws are the fundamental factors of creating a healthful environment. The promotion of health policy presupposes strict observation of legislative norms and following the adopted educational programs. This dependency guarantees that policymakers take no steps involving health risk activities (Gray and Vawda, 2016). The interconnection between legislation and policy is tracked by the fact that the experience of diverse communities is considered when analyzing the public health data and planning the response measures. Policymakers, however, take responsibility for the outcomes of the given measures.

Interrelation Examples

The current legislation provides statutes, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that turn legislative bodies into the effective policymakers. The law is used to counter any discrimination against people with disabilities by the interest groups. In the meantime, legislative bodies are often dependent on the operation of powerful groups since the latter can influence the number of voters (Gray and Vawda, 2016). As long as they are indebted to policymakers, legislators are forced to assist the former with the bill passing.

Health Policy and Regulation

Health delivery starts with the licensing and finding the sources of financing. With healthcare being primarily perceived by the public as a right rather than a privilege, many view regulations as the source to prohibit economic discrimination (Djulbegovic, Hamm, Mayrhofer, Hozo & van den Ende, 2015). The dependency of policymakers, in this case, is determined by the fact that all technical means and resources organizations dispose of must meet the established regulatory norms. The given interconnection ensures that the quality of healthcare remains acceptable.

Interrelation Examples

The occurrence of health insurance programs and disease control centers serves as the example of the interrelation between the health policy and regulation. This interconnection involves close consideration of existing health delivery norms. A decision analysis that is made at the policy formulation phase “summarizes multiple considerations into a small set of ideas” to cover all communities’ needs (Djulbegovic et al., 2015, p. 1122). Once introduced, the policy is subject to control by administrative bodies including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Health Policy and Finance: Interrelation and Example

Health policy directives are dependent on the financial activity. To get a full-fledged treatment a patient must first provide the insurer’s requisites, which proves that policy principles cannot be fulfilled without regular investments and thorough tax planning. Reeves et al. (2015) state that “tax revenues are the main source of government funds available for financing and expanding health systems in most nations” (p. 274). The given statement serves as the example of how a fee-for-service payment method dominates in clinical practice.

Health Policy and Practice: Interrelation and Example

Regarding the interconnections between the health policy principles and practice, the given principles can only be attained if practitioners possess the required knowledge and proper professional integrity. The bright example of this interrelation is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reform initiated by Congress to stimulate the increase in professional devotion among medical workers to their functions (Djulbegovic et al., 2015). As the authors admit, clinicians must aim at fulfilling clients’ needs, while, policymakers must set forward easily attainable goals for the former.

Conclusions

Summarizing the research outcomes, conducting a sound health policy is the matter of consideration of multiple constituents this policy is tied to. Policymaking communities are obliged to observe the existing legislative and regulatory norms and thus, consider the needs of broader groups of patients. Nevertheless, policymakers can still influence the process of bill passing by forming large interest groups. Patients, in this case, arrive as the major source of financial support due to them being taxpayers, voluntary investors, and service buyers at a single occasion.

References

Djulbegovic, B., Hamm, R. M., Mayrhofer, T., Hozo, I., & van den Ende, J. (2015). Rationality, practice variation and person‐centred health policy: A threshold hypothesis. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 21(6), 1121-1124.

Gray, A., & Vawda, Y. (2016). Health policy and legislation. South African Health Review, 2016(1), 3-15.

Reeves, A., Gourtsoyannis, Y., Basu, S., McCoy, D., McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2015). Financing universal health coverage – effects of alternative tax structures on public health systems: Crossnational modelling in 89 low-income and middleincome countries. The Lancet, 386(9990), 274-280.