Running Head: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Successful Implementation of Affordable Care Act Policy
Management Assignment
Student’s name:
Course:
Professor:
Date of Submission:
An Introductory Overview of the Act itself:
The Affordable Care Act is a United States government policy that was implemented under the rule of President Barrack Obama in order to improve health care services all over the states. It was specifically designed to review the factors influencing the decision to pursue health reforms, to recommend actions that could improve the health care system, and identify the general lessons for public policy. It also saw the improvement of accessibility, affordability, and quality of healthcare.
For this act to have been implemented and made to become so effective in the United States, there are several processes that it had to pass through, all of which are inter-related, which is the ideology behind the interplay. Some of the relationships included its designing by experienced professionals, the rulemaking procedure after its presentation and its discussion at the parliament, the operation process and its final evaluation as well. All these processes took time, and their successful implementation means that the Act was of great relevance and that it contributed well to the delivery of healthcare services in the United States!
The Policymaking procedure for such an Act is usually very long and it always has its own twists. Because healthcare service delivery is a very sensitive case, the implementation of such an Act had to go through interrelated cyclical phases such as formulation, implementation and lastly, its modification just in case of loopholes that need redressing in order to achieve some level of perfection.
The designing part of the process entails the working agenda, planning the work, and organizing the work as well, while the rulemaking process involves detailed directives that are developed by implementing organizations in the executive branch.
Furthermore, the operating process involves one or more organizations or agencies whereby they undertake the operation of enacted legislation based on design and established rules. Also, the evaluation process is most likely to lead the experts who are designing the Act towards new rounds of designing, rulemaking and operating policy. These processes are all interrelated in that chronology, as is described in the Longest HPM Chapter 3 of the resource that is provided in the question.
From my point of view with regards to the required insight that pertains m commentary concept on the Supreme Court of the United States, I personally believe that the policymakers have done a very good job of implementing this Act. However, I feel that there is still so much to be done to the same policy and therefore the well learned and experienced experts who are responsible for making the same Act should not rest their cases on the Supreme Court’s final decision. They still need to collect more data that add up to further implementation of the Act and they also need to work on loopholes such as the areas that lack individual market competition, the increasing drug costs and much more.
The Key Concepts in their Deliverable:
Q.1 Key features of the health policymaking process
Moving on, of great importance to make a note of as well includes the key features of the policymaking process. Speaking of the process itself, the two key features in its making at the blueprint stage are the frameworks and the theories. The purpose of building the framework is to guide inquiry by organizing elements and the relationships among the elements that may lead to theory development. On the other hand, theories are deemed to be more specific than frameworks and they are believed to postulate on testable relationships between variables. Once again, this is so according to the provided article Longest HPM Chapter 3, on the question’s reference section.
Q.2 Phases of the Health Policymaking process
As I had highlighted earlier on in the introductory section of this answer sheet, the three phases of the policy-making process are the formulation phase, the implementation phase, and the modification phase. The formulation phase and the implementation phase are interrelated and they are always bridged by the formal performance of the lawmaking process.
The formulation phase involves the identification of a missing gap in the healthcare service provision system. It basically entails the process of identifying a problem, its possible solutions and the political circumstances that may lead to its legislation.
In addition to the above is that the Implementation phase is a circle and a cycle of intertwined processes such as designing, rulemaking, operating and evaluating.
Lastly, the modification phase entails the revision of all the decisions that are made in both the formulation and the implementation phases of the policy-making process. Usually, this is done in a bid to achieve perfection so as to ensure that there is quality medical service delivery to the people of the United States of America.
Q.3 Role of the Courts:
The judicial branch of the government is the one which deals with the policy-making process in any country of the world. This branch of the government includes the courts, and the core roles of the courts are to act as constitutional referees, to give meaning and to protect the rights of the people. This is according to the provided article: The Longest HPM Chapter 4.
By acting as constitutional referees, the courts usually decide whether a branch of the government has acted within the scope of its constitutional authority. Also, by acting as meaning givers, the same courts usually perform the duties of clarifying the meanings of the laws once they have been made public. Lastly: by acting as rights protectors, the courts usually perform the duties of justifying and/or rejecting the legal or constitutional rights of parties.
The Discussion:
Q.1 Main Triggers towards Health Care Reforms:
From my readings of the article United States Healthcare Reform, it has come to my realization that the main triggers towards the implementation of the healthcare reforms were the author’s concern about a healthcare system that basically fell short of its potential. I the article, the author argues that the healthcare structure often fell short on quality care, thereby failing to keep patients safe. Instead, the system always waited to treat the same victims of illnesses when they were sick rather than focusing on keeping them healthy. This was poorly coordinated care and the author insists that something had to be done in order to make a positive impact on the same. So to say, the best option in this case scenario was healthcare reforms!
Also, there was the need to neutralize the domination of the fee-for-service payment system which often penalized healthcare organizations who are always looking for ways to deliver care more effectively and failing to reward the people who spend sleepless nights trying to improve quality care at the same time. This quickly triggered the implementation of health care reforms under the leadership of the author.
Q.2 Public Policy Lessons Learned from the Affordable Care Act (so far):
To date, the major lessons that have been learned from the above-named act include the fact that there were several contrasting issues and some of them clashed in different platforms-including the ACA. For example, the Republicans at some point undermined the act despite the fact that the governing system could have covered more ground so quickly with the corporations from both sides of the opposing members. So to say, none of the republicans pictured the devoted capability of the act to bring some relevant changes at that particular time!
Also, the ACA has with time immemorial, proven the fact that it has simpler approaches towards addressing healthcare problems that do exist at the political spectrums and this should always be the agenda of the day! Amazingly enough, the act mainly focuses on providing affordable healthcare for all and covers for everyone, thanks to the law!
Lastly, the final lesson learned from the ACA according to the former president’s article is the need for togetherness regardless of other people’s political affiliations. With increased medical coverage over the years that the act has been active under President Obama’s leadership, everyone finds it quite clear that the best policies are with the formulation and the implementation of the act and not only the congress! Therefore, people always need to stand together so as to support good ideologies such as this one, irrespective of their political affiliations.
I hereby rest my case on the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
References:
The Longest HPM Chapter 3
The Longest HPM Chapter 4.
President Obama, the United States Healthcare Reform (2016)
