Health Care Policy The government of the United States can influence health policy in many ways. Specifically, Congress has the authority to pass laws affecting the health care system in the country. Most recently they debated the new health care law that was passed in 2009. This debate was primarily between the Republicans in Congress, who felt that easier access to existing private insurance plans was the key to overhauling the system, and the Democrats, who preferred a government run plan to compete with the private plans (Keefe, 2009).

The President has the role of cheerleader and adviser, without a direct role in passing laws. President Obama went on the campaign trail to try to rally people to his side and convince them that his plan to cover the uninsured, lower costs, and improve care (Stolberg, 2009). The President can help steer the discussion towards the direction he would like it to go and wields the threat of a veto to dissuade policies with which he does not agree. Generally speaking, republicans favor the private insurance system, while Democrats have been pushing for more government intervention into healthcare in the United States.

Keefe, B. (21 July 2009). Georgia's docs in congress influence health care debate. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved from:

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgias-docs-in-congress-96598.html.

Stolberg, S.G. (6 June 2009). Obama to forge a greater role on health care. The New York Times.

Retrieved from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/us/politics/07policy.html.

Question 2

Though it is tempting to want to limit the payment that doctors receive to lower insurance rates for everyone, it could potentially be a short-sighted solution. Many people also contend...

But doctors are the best arbiters of their own costs when performing procedures. Osteopathic physicians, in particular, have extensive experience in dealing with Medicaid and other underserved patients, so they have a unique perspective in dealing with government-run healthcare (Ross-Lee & Weiser, 1994, p.404).
It is important that doctors are reimbursed fairly, or they may decide to enter another profession where they can earn more, or decide to enter a specialty that is reimbursed at a greater rate. This is what has happened in some states that have implemented health care reform, like Maryland (Kilmer, 2011, p.1). If the policy changes or reimbursement changes force doctors out of the business and make it harder to receive proper care, then the reforms have little chance of being effective.

Ross-Lee, B. & Weiser, M.A. (1994). State healthcare reform: An arena for the osteopathic medical profession's influence. Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 94(5),

404-413.

Kilmer, M. (2011). Reforming how we reimburse doctors. The Maryland Journal, 1.

Question 3

Without the support of the American people any healthcare reform has no chance of passing. But it is also true that public opinion on the issue may be rather fluid. Often it depends upon the way the question is phrased as to whether or not the public agrees with the policies, as they show many people oppose mandates to buy insurance when subsidies are mentioned (Baker, 2012). This is true for many countries in the health care debate, as was shown when the European citizens pushed for healthcare reform (Glaser, 2000).

It is the will of the people that…