Delineation: An Overview of the Policy under Analysis

583 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Indigenous education

I. Delineation an Overview of the Policy under Analysis
What is this specific policy or general policy area to be analyzed? Warne, D. (2007) states that there are many injustices within the “system” ,but Health Care Policy; which determines who gets health services, what those services are and how those services are delivered and Education Policy which determines who gets educational programs, what those programs are and how those programs are administered are among the highest needed policies that need attending to.
What is the nature of the problem being targeted by the policy? There are two factors that influence the nature of the problems at hand. The two key differences that exist between health policy and education policy for American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/ANs) are first, healthcare is not a legal right in the United States (US), whereas everyone has a right to public education through high school. In the US individuals are not born with a legal right to healthcare services. Typically, citizens of the US either have enough resources to pay for health services/health insurance or they are impoverished enough to qualify for public assistance (e.g., Medicaid programs) Warne, D. (2007).
What is the context of the problem being analyzed (i. e., How does this specific policy fit with other policies seeking to manage a social problem)? According to the US Commission on Civil Rights (2004), per capita expenditures in the 2003 federal budget for AI/AN people receiving healthcare services from the IHS were $1,914. In contrast, the per capita medical expenditure for Medicaid recipients was $3,879, for Medicare recipients was $5,915, and, for Veterans Administration beneficiaries, the per capita expenditure was $5,214.
The per capita medical expenditures for federal inmates in the Bureau of Prisons was $3,803 – nearly double the per capita medical expenditure for American Indians. Limitations in funding and historically inadequate third-party billing have led to decreased access to healthcare services for the AI population. Figure 1 shows per capita funding for several federally funded health programs.

Figure 1. Comparison of per capita healthcare expenditures for several federally funded healthcare systems in US dollars [Indian Health Service (IHS), Bureau of Prisons, Medicaid, Veterans Administration (VA), and Medicare]. Figure adapted from US Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service, January, 2006.
The second key difference between health policy and education policy is access to third party sources of revenue. Since IHS and tribal health programs are underfunded, and since significant numbers of AI/ANs are impoverished, IHS and tribal health programs have become dependent on third party revenue from several sources, primarily Medicaid.

Show More
Related

  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Pros and Cons

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.

    Read More

  • Social Welfare System Mini-Paper

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    The public needs to address racial disparities in health which is achievable by changing policy addressing the major components of socioeconomic status (income, education, and occupation) as well as the pathways by which these affect health. To modify these risk factors, one needs to look even further to consider the factors. Socioeconomic status is a key underlying factor. Several components need to be identified to offer more options for those working on policy making. Because the issue is so big, I believe that not a single policy can eliminate health disparities in the United States. One possible pathway can be education, like the campaign to decrease tobacco usage, which is still a big problem, but the health issue has decreased in severity. The other pathway can be by addressing the income, by giving low-income individuals the same quality of care as an individual who has a high

    Read More

  • It Is Time to Expand Medicaid Coverage in South Carolina

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    The leadership’s decision not to expand Medicaid leaves between 300,000 and 400,000 South Carolinians without health insurance (South Carolina Medical Association, 2012). The stated intent of the Affordable Care Act, pejoratively dubbed “Obamacare” by its critics, was to put affordable health care within reach of more of the 40 million Americans who lacked health insurance. The law’s grand design included an assumption that states would expand their Medicaid programs, since the federal government would pay 100 percent of the expansion costs through 2016, and 90 percent thereafter. But in demonstrating its traditional mistrust of Washington’s promises, Columbia declined the offer and, in the process, left thousands of low-income workers without the means to obtain health coverage, either because they cannot afford the premiums or because their employers do not provide it. (Advisory Committee, 2013). Ironically, in a state where the median annual income is $44,600, South Carolina’s working poor earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid; however, they would be covered under the ACA model (Hailsmaier and Blasé, 2010).

    Read More

  • Essay On Administrative Waste In Healthcare

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Administrative Waste in U.S. Healthcare Regardless of technological advancement, life-saving skills and abilities and first-world resources, the outlandish cost of healthcare in the United States far surpasses any other country in the world. From price gouging, to double billing, to overbilling, to inefficient and expensive operations, the United States wastes $750 billion every year through our healthcare system. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), $200 billion of that astronomical number is due to nothing more than administrative waste.

    Read More

  • The Merger of Two Competing Hospitals: A Case Study

    3362 Words  | 7 Pages

    Longest Jr., B.B (2009) Health Policy making in the United States (5th Edition). Chicago, IL: HAP/AUPHA.

    Read More

  • Policy Analysis of Affordable Care

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since the initiation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Americans have been put back in charge of their individual health care. Under this new law, a health insurance marketplace provides a haven for individuals without insurance to gain coverage. Just this year, citizens found out early whether they qualified for Medicare or the CHIP formally known as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. So much is to be learned about the Affordable Care act and this paper provides the roles of the different governmental branches, along with other important factors associated with this law.

    Read More

  • America Needs Gun Control

    2937 Words  | 6 Pages

    Kraft, Michael E., and Scott R. Furlong. 2013. Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives, Anonymous Anonymous , ed. Charisse Kiino . 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: The United States is not The Greatest Country in The World

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...

    Read More

  • The Necessity of the Affordable Healthcare Law

    2022 Words  | 5 Pages

    In America the affordability and equality of access to healthcare is a crucial topic of debate when it comes to one's understanding of healthcare reform. The ability for a sick individual to attain proper treatment for their ailments has reached the upper echelons of government. Public outcry for a change in the handling of health insurance laws has aided in the establishment of the Affordable Healthcare Law (AHCL) to ensure the people of America will be able to get the medical attention they deserve as well as making that attention more affordable, as the name states. Since its creation, the AHCL has undergone scrutiny towards its effects on the government and its people; nevertheless, the new law must not be dismantled due to its function as a cornerstone of equal-opportunity healthcare, and if such a removal is allowed, there will be possibly detrimental effects on taxes, the economy, and poor people.

    Read More

  • We Are Spending Too Much On Prisons

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine the money amassed over a life sentence of paying for medicine. The American public pays for all of these expenses added to the actual building of the prison facility, which is extremely expensive.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Medicare and Medicaid

    2099 Words  | 5 Pages

    Medicaid is a broken system that is largely failing to serve its beneficiary’s needs. Despite its chronic failures to deliver quality health care, Medicaid is seemingly running up a gigantic tab for tax payers (Frogue, 2003). Medicaid’s budget woes are secondary to its insignificant structure, leaving its beneficiaries with limited choices, when arranging for their own health care. Instead, regulations are set in order to drive costs down; instead of allowing Medicaid beneficiaries free rein to choose whom they will seek care from (Frogue, 2003)

    Read More

  • Problems With the U.S. Healthcare System

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.

    Read More

  • Essay On Medicaid And Federalism

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Health reform and health policy has taken over in the United States in recent years. Medicaid is one of the top policies being implemented throughout our nation today. To understand how Medicaid and federalism cross paths with each other one must understand the basic definitions and concepts each one brings. Federalism is “system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. Generally, an overarching national government governs issues that affect the entire country, and smaller subdivisions govern issues of local concern.” In short, federalism is a government system that has an overseeing central government over state government. While, “Medicaid is a health insurance program for low-income individuals and families who cannot afford health care costs. Medicaid serves low-income parents, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.” Medicaid is a test based welfare program for United States Citizens. Now the question is how does Medicaid intersect with federalism? These two intersect because Medicaid is a need-based program that is funded by the federal government and the state government and administered at the state level. The issue with Medicaid is that if it expands then a crowding-out effect may occur. Meaning, that the more the government spends on Medicaid then less they would be able to spend on other programs such as: education, transportation, or other state priorities. Medicaid is supposed to provide access to health insurance for approximately half of our nations uninsured citizens. Without Medicaid a vast amount of low-income citizens will go without having a healthcare insurance plan.

    Read More

  • Health Care Policies Process

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Health care policies are plans that intended to determine or influence decisions or actions that will help to achieve specific health care goals. Most of these policies are actions taken by the government to improve the American health care system. The purpose of this essay is to describe the process of how a topic eventually becomes a policy and tie to how the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) policy process. This essay will include the formulation stage, legislative stage, and implementation stage of a complete policy process.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Ethics In Nursing

    1662 Words  | 4 Pages

    For nursing to maintain its moral obligation in policy decisions, understanding that the community is autonomous and whole must be further understood (Watson, 1990). Values are needed to reflect all the individuals in a community and they can implement policies that boost community freedom. The difference between one on one healthcare and community healthcare is that the nurse needs to identify community health patterns instead of a single individual. Problems arise when technicalities like healthcare access come into play. A lot of people believe that we should all have equal access to healthcare. While it seems like a progressive idea, many forget how we should gather money to fund it. The United States is considered a liberty, meaning if someone has the resources to obtain insurance then they could expect to have their healthcare needs met (Rich, 2013; Beauchamp & Childress, 20). On the other hand, for someone who doesn’t have the financial means for insurance will not have access to healthcare unless they have a life-threatening emergency that would be covered under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) passed by the United States Congress in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Act (COBRA). By 2009, the U.S. Census reported that over 50 million people in the U.S. did not have insurance. After the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act, access to healthcare became a

    Read More

More about Delineation: An Overview of the Policy under Analysis

Open Document