Various policies have been implemented in the United States. The two major policies are health policy and equal employment policy. Health policies are products that are debatable in a political regime. Even though keen considerations of the existing problems and the probable solutions enlighten the policymakers, the resolutions will eventually reflect a certain political ideology. It is, therefore, critical for the political influencers to critically assess the policies that are put in place so that they address the problems in the health sector.
In the year 1960s, there was an establishment of the phrase ‘health care consumer’, which advocated for the right of a patient to access information and be aware of the nature of their medical care. The government has set up policies that look into the costs of medication in the United States. The government has supported the establishment of insurance agencies that look into lowering the costs of accessing health care. This effort by the government has worked against the containment policy that aimed at reducing expenses incurred by patients in health facilities. Most patients in the past were discharged early to avoid the costs of spending time in the facility. The government has also encouraged an increase in specialization for medical practitioners.
There is a high level of training given to health practitioners and the use of highly sophisticated machines. Despite the efforts that the government has put in place to boost the health sector in the nation, there are still few obstacles that need to be handled. Some of these issues include patient dumping and congestion, whose history dates back to the 19th century. Health care policy in the United States is a success.
Today, most Americans are enjoying their health care system since many people are operating with health insurance. Advanced technology is in operation in the health facilities, which is available at an affordable price. The health care facilities are accessible to the ever-increasing US population. Various personalities attribute this success to the effort of the government and other stakeholders in the health sector. They also believe that they can still achieve the best results.
It is argued that the existing Macroeconomic policy in the United States has paid little attention to the provision of employment to US citizens. It has played a great role in undermining the connection between wages and levels of production. This is because employment is a key factor that ensures that an individual contributes to the levels of production in the Country. Today, the government is working towards setting up policies that aim at regulating and boosting labor markets in the United States. The United States was afraid to set up these acts for fear of disadvantaging the industries and other sectors that need recruits since they will incur a higher cost of operation.
Policymaking machinery at the national level
The policymaking process in the government refers to the measures taken by the government to resolve its problems. It depicts the decisions taken by the government with the main aim of solving the problems that affect the nation as a whole. The main intention of public policymaking is to boost the living standards of its citizens. The main task of policymaking varies from one level to the other.
At the national level, its main task is to look into industry regulations and business. It protects citizens both at home and abroad and looks into the operations of the state and the government. It enhances people’s lives through the provision of funding and encouraging participation in programs that improve their livelihoods in the society. A policy that is set up by the government, goes through various stages from the initial ones to its implementation.
All the stages that the policy goes through require some machinery to be utilized to achieve the desired goal. Before the establishment of a policy, the stakeholders need to look into the problem that has triggered the need for policy formulation. It is at this stage that the stakeholders will identify the policies required and the steps that should be used to carry out the analysis. The history of the problem should be studied with care to establish the causes and the necessary steps that should be taken to handle the matter. This step will lead to the planning process, where the stakeholders are set to put into practice the laid down procedure.
Various major factors play a key role in the determination of a successful policy formulation for a nation. The government involved needs to take into consideration the availability of these key factors in their policy formulation program.
First, there should be an institutional environment, which comprises the role of the environment in the policy formulation process, the political nature of the process, and how the external stakeholders play a role in policy formulation. The country involved in the policymaking process needs to ensure that there is a facilitating environment that supports policymaking. The nation needs to decide on whether to take up the centralized or decentralized system of policy formulation. Most of the nations take up the decentralized system as it ensures that the solution arrived at, fits the whole population. The centralized system can also be utilized effectively when one faces financial challenges, as it does not require people to move from one region to another.
The second factor that should be considered in the policymaking process is the time for policymaking. This entails the time when policymaking is carried out together with the total time that it will take to complete the process. The timing is mostly affected by political views and it may affect the public in various ways. The other great influence that needs to be considered is the influence of the outside parties in the policymaking process.
The outside agencies may be useful in financing or contributing useful ideas for the implementation of a policy. In some other cases, the influence of the outside culture may be detrimental to the implementation of a policy. It is, therefore, important for the government to look into the necessity of a donor and the role of the donor in the policymaking process. It should also be noted that the power of an external donor in a policy formulation process often adds weight to the result. The presence of a coordinator is also critical in ensuring that the whole process is well coordinated.
It is also essential for the government machinery to introduce the use of technological tools that aid the sharing of information. It also ensures that the policy-making stakeholders have access to various databases that will help them in the policy-making procedure. It avails useful sources that are critical in meeting the goal of the committee. The use of information technology tools together with the mass media is critical in ensuring the process is decentralized. This is possible since people are allowed to contribute to the process from their places of residence.
The government should also seek various ways that are effective in the implementation of the policies. This aspect should look into the cost of these means of implementation; mostly for the institutional means where it should be encouraged to implement policies through the existing institutions. The government needs to participate in capacity building, where it liaises with other nations in the world. This act will boost the sharing of information and also aid their capacity to store and disseminate information.
The powerful national institutions, in the United States, have confirmed their inability to deal with unemployment in the United States. This act has minimized the chances of seeking the support of political forces to back employment policies. The establishment of decentralized organizations allowed the opposers of the vigorous employment policies to slab the policies that might hinder their power. The set up of decentralized bureaucracies plays a role in the increased block of the employment sector by the elites. The few available policies that were set up within the existing institutional framework encouraged policies that were politically oriented and aimed at specific groups. Such policies did not do much in the creation of a common goal in the development of employment policies.