Public Policy What Current Event

Public Policy

What current event that has to do with public policy is of special interest to you at this time? Describe it in detail and present your opinions about it in a cogent essay.

The public policy issue of healthcare is of greatest and most pressing importance to me and countless of other Americans. With the current economic crisis, the ranks of the uninsured and under-insured are growing. One of the reasons for the failure of the American automotive companies General Motors and Chrysler was the need for these companies to offer health benefits to current and past employees. Foreign companies do not shoulder a similar burden.

America spends more on healthcare than the other major industrial powers, yet insures fewer people. Other major capitalist nations have universal healthcare -- why not America? Why must the first thought of every American who becomes sick be: 'how am I going to pay for this,' rather than 'how am I going to get better?' It is estimated that health care costs -- now about 18% of the gross domestic product -- will rise to 34% in 30 years if left unchecked (Froomkin 2009). This waste and inefficiency must end. While opponents of a single-payer, or universal healthcare systems commonly use fears of 'rationing' to arouse opposition amongst their constituents to such a plan, rationing already exists. Today, healthcare rationing is implemented by healthcare insurance companies that profit by denying, rather than providing care.

However, single-payer, universal healthcare coverage is likely to blocked by Republicans and insurance lobbyists. But even industry insiders admit that at present, American healthcare is woefully inefficient. Numerous unnecessary procedures and tests are provided on individuals, simply because they have better insurance while those with high-deductible insurance coverage go lacking. If waste and inefficiency were contained the "potential savings could be $1 trillion to $1.7 trillion over 10 years" (Froomkin 2007). Medical tests and procedures must be better allocated amongst patients and more complete preventative care must be extended to the working poor. To finance even modest expansions in public care, in addition to slashing red tape and better management of chronic diseases, some have suggested taxing employer-provided healthcare as income, as those without such plans must pay out-of-pocket. Even this could finance only a part of the $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion that Obama's modest expansion of public insurance to extend healthcare to all who desire it requires over the next ten years (Froomkin 2009). Yet if reform is not instated soon, costs devoted to red tape rather than care will only grow.

Question 2: Which three U.S. presidents since 1900 are of special interest to you for their policy formulation and implementation? Discuss your answer giving examples from their Administrations.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt transformed modern American public policy. His New Deal alleviated the crisis of confidence in American government that occurred after the Great Depression. Roosevelt created the first safety net for Americans, in the form of Social Security and unemployment insurance. His public works programs stimulated the American economy and put unemployed Americans back to work. Programs like the Tennessee Valley Administration changed the lives of rural Americans, and many of his programs endure to this day, at least in modified form. Without Roosevelt, the concept of an American government that cares for the least well off in society and restrains the excesses of the capitalist system and the business cycle would never have taken form in the national consciousness. Every time a person sighs in relief that their bank deposits are ensured by the federal government or collects unemployment, he or she is enjoying Roosevelt's legacy (Biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 2009, The White House).

President Lyndon Johnson extended Roosevelt's concept of socially engineering society in his Great Society program. Head Start was one of the most notable innovations of Johnson's Administration, which enabled underprivileged preschoolers to receive help and support their entry into the school system. Major civil rights legislation, Medicare, and Medicaid were all part of the Great Society. These programs, passed during a time of relative economic prosperity, attempted to extend equal rights and improve the lives of even the disenfranchised and the poorest of Americans (Biography, 2009, The White House).