Public policy !!

Public policy means the plan of action taken by a government in order to guide the plan of action in a field.  The main aims of public policy are to ensure economic and political stability in a country and to ensure well being of the citizens of a country (Friedrich, 2007).  Although public policy is mainly formulated by the central government, other players like religious institutions and private sector can be involved in the process but the execution will remain the responsibility of the central government.  Public policy can either be formulated in times of crises to avert them or it can also be formulated to guide action.  The main steps of formulation of public policy are identifying a problem or the issue that needs to be addressed, designing the best measure to solve the problem, putting the policy into use which is the implementation and then evaluation of the policy to assess its effectiveness in dealing with the problem.

            The US political system is a two-part system with only two major parties which are the Republic party and the Democratic party.  Both parties have their ideologies and values in which their public policies are based (Macy, 2009).  The problems they try to solve and the objectives of the public policy may be the same but the formulation, approach and goals may differ.  The similarities and differences are compared in the different issues they seek to address. I want to talk about the different and the similar in healthcare issues and economic issues between Democracy and Republican Party.

Healthcare

The two parties acknowledge that access to good healthcare is a right for all citizens and not a privilege due the important role it plays in the well being of the nation.  They also have vision to make health care affordable for all and ensure that the citizens have access and can afford health care facilities.  Both also have the intention of providing for special needs of the citizens.  They acknowledge the importance of technology in provision of health care and promise to accelerate technological development in health care provision. 

            One difference is that the Democratic Party promises to fight insurance companies which exploit their patients through the implementation of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act while the Republican Party promises to encourage health insurance without regulation (Macy, 1982).  The Republicans agree that access to health care provision is important and it aims at making such information available and accessible while there is no such intention in the Democratic Party platform.  The Democratic Party promises to control various diseases in the society which is not the same case with the Republic party platform.

            Today, the US is the country in the world with the highest cost of healthcare relative to its GDP. About 10% of its population totaling to about 50.2 million people doesn’t have insurance covers (David, pg 40). The situation doesn’t get any better with another 77 million baby boomers believed to be reaching their retirement age. The main concern therefore is how the spiraling healthcare costs can be brought under control. In terms of the quality of healthcare, republicans have criticized democrats move to liberalize the healthcare market arguing that it would bring about lower quality of healthcare. The main problem with the American healthcare program is the costs. In this regards, the proposal by the democrats that even among the private healthcare providers, standardized pricing be adopted is a welcome move that would seek to ensure cost-effectiveness. Healthcare providers should be under some form of regulation so that they operate under the same guidelines with prices that are relatively the same. Democrats have provided a more comprehensive approach to the healthcare reforms which would lower costs and at the same time ensure efficiency and quality (David, pg 56). For instance, the Obama administration has held that the electronic record system would be efficient I reducing costs. In terms of insurance cover, the position by the democrats to regulate the activities of the insurance companies in terms of healthcare is more effective because if left unchecked, most insurance companies would continue to discriminate against persons who already have some pre-existing conditions at the time they are seeking to be covered. Such discriminatory actions would result in a relatively higher number of persons without insurance cover and the end product would be a healthcare burden on the government in terms of taking care of such persons when they have already deteriorated in condition. Liberalization of the insurance industry would prevent concentration of power by the large insurers, something which has been at the center of healthcare debate for sometime. In addition to the tax reforms in terms of the percentage of employees’ healthcare are paid for by their employers, democrats I believe provide a more solid case in terms of healthcare.

Work Cited :

Friedrich, C., (2007).  Public Policy.  London: Read Books

Macy, J., (2009).  Political Parties in the United States, 1846-1861.New Jersey: BiblioBazaar, LLC.

David G. The cure: How capitalism can save American Health Care? 2010. Chicago; Encounter    books. Pgs 34-78