Health Policy Congress and the President Influence

Week 2 and 3 Discussion

Assignment 1

The role of the U.S. government’s legislative body, i.e. Congress, in matters revolving around Health Policy happens to be critical. This is more so the case given that the two chambers of Congress are often involved in not only the debate, but also the voting on legislation. The two chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the words of Wilensky and Teitelbaum (2019), “legislation considered by Congress may be either a resolution or a bill, each of which serves different functions” (p. 117). Examples of recent bills on this front are inclusive of H.R. 941 TRANSPLANT Act of 2021 (sponsored by Rep. Doris Matsui) and the H.R. 1371: Crush the Virus Act of 2021 (sponsored by Rep. Tom Reed) (GovTrack, 2021). The various congressional committees play an instrumental role with regard to the more detailed examination of the relevant issues. In some instances, Congress could engage in negotiations with the Executive so as to further refine the relevant legislation related to health. Caucuses (which are largely informal) could also be established in instances where there is need for a bipartisan examination of certain Health Policy issues. In addition to legislation, Congress also plays a key oversight role. In this case, Congress could influence Health Policy via a review of departmental and agency performance – which could result in a review of certain policies, rules, or regulations implemented by the said agencies or departments.

On the other hand, the president could influence Health Policy via the exercise of his power to either veto or approve legislation. He could also sign memoranda intended to repeal certain provisions of previous healthcare policies. Certain courses of action related to directing interpretive guidance, rulemaking, as well as executive orders also come in handy in presidential efforts to influence Health Policy. The president could also influence Health Policy through his appointive authority. In this case, he could appoint individuals of certain persuasions to key dockets to pursue or push through certain health-related positions.

Influence on Health Policy does shift from time to time depending on which political party happens to be in majority. For instance, with the Democratic majority in both houses, the agenda championed by the Democratic Party platform is more likely to sail through. This happens to be the case when both houses are controlled by Republicans. To a large extent, the party in the majority position is critical in as far as Health Policy is concerned owing to the fact that stances on healthcare differ from one party to another. For instance, in the words of Buck (2020), “Democrats have always been in favor of governmental involvement in the wellbeing of Americans…” whereas Republicans have been “traditionally dedicated to the notion that less government is better government…”

Assignment 2