Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by expanding on their explanation and providing an example that supports their explanation or respectfully challengi

Class Response 1

Making or implementing policies should ultimately be in the best interest of the society or community the legislators serve. Political parties always have a reason behind pursuing or refusing a political agenda or policy. Therefore, it is pertinent who will elect to power. The goal of every political party is to achieve the mandate for which they were elected, even though it might not be in the best interest of the larger population or the disadvantaged in society. However, the primary goal of a healthcare person or nurse participating or getting involved in politics is to improve patients' health care in all spheres in the long run (Milstead & Short, 2019).

 The reason behind repealing/replacing the affordable care act differs from one political party to another. Pagel et al. (2017) noted that "The Republicans prioritize reducing costs and smaller government over all other goals, whereas Democrats prioritize improving health and equity and reducing cost" (para.7). Legislators' policy would always be in favor of the political party they belong to. The Republicans were pushing for repealing the affordable care act without having a proper replacement. There were many attempts to repeal the ACA during the Obama-led administration, but they were unsuccessful. However, the Republicans came up with policies that deterred the full implementation of the ACA instead (Patashnik & Oberlander, 2018). The cost of repealing or replacing the ACA was detrimental to people's health. This meant access to health care was minimized, people with comorbidities or pre-existing conditions were disadvantaged, and health care was less affordable in the long run.

It is crucial to establish that the people we elect to power should be individuals or governments who will pursue the welfare of the citizens other than for selfish reasons. Voters should be able to determine whom to vote for based on manifestos, not based on sentiments. In deciding whether a legislator needs to be re-elected, the questions that need to be asked is that are the policy makers aware of the pressing needs of the people, knowledgeable of the subject matters in question, people-driven or self-driven, and have a past track record of deliverables (Milstead & Short, 2019).

References

Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019).  Health policy and politics: A nurse's guide. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Pagel, C., Bates, D. W., Goldmann, D., & Koller, C. F. (2017). A way forward for bipartisan health reform? Democrat and Republican state legislator priorities for the goals of health policy.  American Journal of Public Health,  107(10), 1601–1603. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2017.304023

Patashnik, E. M., & Oberlander, J. (2018). After defeat: Conservative postenactment opposition to the ACA in historical-institutional perspective.  Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law,  43(4), 651–682. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-6527971

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Class Response 2

America is supposed to be a place where people have a say in their rules and regulation. Public policy is a difficult and challenging process that involves a lot of different players with all different interest. The people involved vary from individuals, interest groups, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses. They all use different tactics to push their agenda forward through sensitization of the public, lobbying, and donating to political leaders’ campaign (Todd, 2013).  All these groups tend to drag the policies in different directions. If the policy does not favor a particular group; they try to block it instead of changing or improving it. Also, all these parties involved cost policy making to be along in slow process. 

In healthcare, affordability is a big concern when it comes to health coverage in this country. The affordable care act (ACA) was passed in 2010 by Obama which allowed every American access to affordable health care (Brown, 2018). At first many were pleased because they could have healthcare that was once out of reach, or they could not afford. However, this did not ensure that they were guaranteed access to quality care. That is one of the reasons why the ACA has had a lot of controversy from the Republican Party. The suppliers of legislative benefits are legislators, and their primary goal is to be re-elected. Thus, legislators need to maximize their chances for re-election, which requires political support. Majority of the legislative members act on self-interest, they fight to achieve their goal of re-election and their legislative decisions are based on factors that would contribute to their re-election and not for the benefit of the citizens who they serve (Milstead and Short, 2019). The decision of our legislators is driven by the excitement and power the legislative position brings to them and not primarily on what benefits the people. These have affected efforts to repeal/replace the ACA. Even though the republican legislators understand the benefits of ACA to the citizens, good number of them still support to have it replaced or repealed because of the consequences it will have on their chances of getting re-elected if allowed to continue.

The decision of legislators is driven by their desire to achieve their goal of re-election and not on the primary need of the voters who elected them. Voters views may affect decisions by legislative leaders in recommending or positioning national policies as elections have the effect of bringing about some degree of policy compromise. Competing political candidates have incentives to adopt positions that reflect the preferences of the electorate because doing so raises the chances they will win the election (Andy, 2012). That is, voters can affect the policy choices of politicians. The Affordable Care Act has been a touchy subject since it was passed. It will continue to be a topic of disagreement between people. There are pros and cons for the act, but there will need to be a replacement if the act is repealed. Horror of what could potentially be worse than what is already established continues but on history; legislation will continue to hold the power and put their needs first.

References

Andy, S. (2012). Factors that influence public policy.  Journal of health politics, policy, and law, 39(2),441-465

Brown E. C. (2018) Health reform and theories of cost.  Journal of law and medicine ethics. Vol 47, Issue 18

Milstead. J.A. & Short, N.M. (2019).  Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones &Bartlett learning.

Todd P. (2013). How was 91 percent of congress re-elected despite a 10 percent approval rating? Retrieved from:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/congress-election-results_b_2114947

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