Health Policymaking In The United States

Instructor Resources: New test bank, PowerPoint slides, HAP Course Lesson Plans, answer guides to the chapter-end discussion questions, and a transition guide to the new edition. In the past decade, the nation experienced an unusually active period in health policy with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Historically, health policymaking has been a slow yet persistent evolution. The ACA, in spite of its magnitude, is an excellent example of the incremental evolution that characterizes policymaking in the United States. This book provides context and background for understanding the development of today's health reform legislation. In the new edition of this widely used book, Beaufort Longest provides a framework for understanding the formulation, implementation, and modification of health policymaking at both the federal and state levels. Students will learn how policymaking relates to decisions that affect healthcare providers and patients. They will also gain insight into how they can influence the policymaking process. Incorporated in the book are excerpts from congressional testimony, news stories, executive orders, legislation, and other documents related to real-world policy issues. Thoroughly updated and revised, this edition: Discusses the ACA extensively, with examples of both its formulation and its implementation Expands coverage of policymaking's implementation phase Provides a new chapter on the role of courts in health policy and policymaking Includes more than 30 appendices, many brand new to this edition, to illustrate the policymaking process

Future healthcare leaders: Do you have an obligation to serve the common good? If your answer to this ethical question is yes, then you need a working knowledge of health policy. An understanding of how policy decisions are made gives healthcare leaders a knowledge base from which they can turn what once appeared to be limitations or obstacles into opportunities to facilitate better access to care, improve the quality of care, and more effectively manage costs. Leaders who have a firm grasp on the policymaking process can advocate for their patients, their organizations, and their communities. This revamped version of the classic textbook originally authored by Beaufort B. Longest, Jr., links policy concepts to practical applications and real healthcare outcomes. It covers formulation, implementation, and modification of health policymaking at both the federal and state levels, while giving readers insight into real-life political results and details of on-the-ground policy decisions. Highlights include: - A new chapter on federalism and the role of the states - Policy Snapshots at the beginning of each of the book's sections that offer brief, true stories of a significant policy event or an opportunity for students to envision their future selves as health advocates - A thoroughly revised and updated chapter on how the courts shape health policy - A rich array of new or updated examples drawn from actual policymaking events, in addition to new graphics and sidebars - Updated appendixes reorganized to provide easy access to examples germane to the topic at hand - An epilogue highlighting federal and state policy challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 Let author Michael R. Meacham guide you through health policy as a process. With a background in policy, law, healthcare leadership, and academia, he enables students to understand both the big picture and the small, but important, details.

The American health care system is a unique mix of public and private programs that critics argue has produced a two-tier system - one for the rich and the other for the poor - that delivers dramatically unequal care and leaves millions of Americans seriously underinsured or with no coverage at all. This book examines the root causes of the inequalities of the American health care system and discusses various policy alternatives. It systematically documents the demands on and the performance of our health care system for different population groups as defined on the basis of gender (women), age (children), race and ethnicity (African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans), and residence in high poverty areas (rural and inner city locales).For each population, the book documents: historical and demographic profile, data on health status, aspects of inequality including access; quality of care; and endemic, cultural, and lifestyle issues affecting health; policies, laws, and programs relevant to health care; and, indicators of improvement or negative trends.

What happens in health policy at local, state, and federal levels directly affects patients, nurses, and nursing practice. Some healthcare professionals, though, are intimidated by the knotty policy process or simply don’t know how to take the first step toward implementing policy change. In Evidence-Informed Health Policy authors Jacqueline M. Loversidge and Joyce Zurmehly demystify health policymaking and equip nurses and other healthcare professionals with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to navigate that first step—and many steps beyond.

Providing concrete steps that federal policymakers should take to promote prevention both within and outside our healthcare sector, Prevention First not only sounds the alarm about the terrible consequences of preventable disease but serves as a rallying cry that we can and must do better in this country to reduce preventable deaths.

"The Nation has lost sight of its public health goals and has allowed the system of public health to fall into 'disarray'," from The Future of Public Health. This startling book contains proposals for ensuring that public health service programs are efficient and effective enough to deal not only with the topics of today, but also with those of tomorrow. In addition, the authors make recommendations for core functions in public health assessment, policy development, and service assurances, and identify the level of governmentâ€"federal, state, and localâ€"at which these functions would best be handled.

Provides an international, unifying perspective, based on the 'public choice' tradition, to explain how patient-citizens interact with their country's political institutions to determine health policies and outcomes. This volume will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students studying health economics, health policy and public policy.

This book introduces students to health policy making, health policy issues, research/evaluation methods, and international perspectives on health policy. Shi uses real-world cases and examples to reinforce theories and concepts throughout the book and addresses all healthcare settings, including public health, managed care, ambulatory care, extended care, and the hospital setting.

Health Policy and Politics: A Nurse’s Guide, Fifth Edition encompasses the entire health policy process from agenda setting through policy and program evaluation. This is an essential text for both graduate and undergraduate students. The Fifth Edition includes expanded information on the breadth of policy making and includes the impact of social media, economics, finance and other timely topics. The authors draw from their experience and provide concrete examples of real-life situations that help students understand the link between policy theory and political action. New to the Fifth Edition: Updated case studies involve the reader in making the connection between theory and active participation in policy making New chapter on inter-professional practice, education, and research Reference to the Affordable Care Act and other laws that affect the health care of consumers and the organization of health care system Expanded content on economics and finance New co

New thinking is needed on the age-old conundrum of how to connect research and policymaking. Why does a disconnect exist between the research community, which is producing thousands of studies relevant to public policy, and the policy community, which is making thousands of decisions that would benefit from research evidence? The second edition updates community dissonance theory and provides an even stronger, more substantiated story of why research is underutilized in policymaking, and what it will take to connect researchers and policymakers. This book offers a fresh look into what policymakers and the policy process are like, as told by policymakers themselves and the researchers who study and work with them. New to the second edition: • The point of view of policymakers is infused throughout this book based on a remarkable new study of 225 state legislators with an extraordinarily high response rate in this hard-to-access population. • A new theory holds promise for guiding the study and practice of evidence-based policy by building on how policymakers say research contributes to policymaking. • A new chapter features pioneering researchers who have effectively influenced public policy by engaging policymakers in ways rewarding to both. • A new chapter proposes how an engaged university could provide culturally competent training to create a new type of scholar and scholarship. This review of state-of-the-art research on evidence-based policy is a benefit to readers who find it hard to keep abreast of a field that spans the disciplines of business, economics, education, family sciences, health services, political science, psychology, public administration, social work, sociology, and so forth. For those who study evidence-based policy, the book provides the basics of producing policy relevant research by introducing researchers to policymakers and the policy process. Strategies are provided for identifying research questions that are relevant to the societal problems that confront and confound policymakers. Researchers will have at their fingertips a breath-taking overview of classic and cutting-edge studies on the multi-disciplinary field of evidence-based policy. For instructors, the book is written in a language and style that students find engaging. A topic that many students find mundane becomes germane when they read stories of what policymakers are like, and when they learn of researcher’s tribulations and triumphs as they work to build evidence-based policy. To point students to the most important ideas, the key concepts are highlighted in text boxes. For those who desire to engage policymakers, a new chapter summarizes the breakthroughs of several researchers who have been successful at driving policy change. The book provides 12 innovative best practices drawn from the science and practice of engaging policymakers, including insights from some of the best and brightest researchers and science communicators. The book also takes on the daunting task of evaluating the effectiveness of efforts to engage policymakers around research. A theory of change identifies seven key elements that are fundamental to increasing policymaker’s use of research along with evaluation protocols and preliminary evidence on each element.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. There has been an enormous increase in interest in the use of evidence for public policymaking, but the vast majority of work on the subject has failed to engage with the political nature of decision making and how this influences the ways in which evidence will be used (or misused) within political areas. This book provides new insights into the nature of political bias with regards to evidence and critically considers what an ‘improved’ use of evidence would look like from a policymaking perspective. Part I describes the great potential for evidence to help achieve social goals, as well as the challenges raised by the political nature of policymaking. It explores the concern of evidence advocates that political interests drive the misuse or manipulation of evidence, as well as counter-concerns of critical policy scholars about how appeals to ‘evidence-based policy’ can depoliticise political debates. Both concerns reflect forms of bias – the first representing technical bias, whereby evidence use violates principles of scientific best practice, and the second representing issue bias in how appeals to evidence can shift political debates to particular questions or marginalise policy-relevant social concerns. Part II then draws on the fields of policy studies and cognitive psychology to understand the origins and mechanisms of both forms of bias in relation to political interests and values. It illustrates how such biases are not only common, but can be much more predictable once we recognise their origins and manifestations in policy arenas. Finally, Part III discusses ways to move forward for those seeking to improve the use of evidence in public policymaking. It explores what constitutes ‘good evidence for policy’, as well as the ‘good use of evidence’ within policy processes, and considers how to build evidence-advisory institutions that embed key principles of both scientific good practice and democratic representation. Taken as a whole, the approach promoted is termed the ‘good governance of evidence’ – a concept that represents the use of rigorous, systematic and technically valid pieces of evidence within decision-making processes that are representative of, and accountable to, populations served.

This revamped edition of the classic textbook originally authored by Beaufort B. Longest, Jr., links policy concepts to practical applications and real healthcare outcomes. --

American Federalism in Practice is an original and important contribution to our understanding of contemporary health policy. It also illustrates how contentious public policy is debated, formulated, and implemented in today’s overheated political environment. Health care reform is perhaps the most divisive public policy issue facing the United States today. Michael Doonan provides a unique perspective on health policy in explaining how intergovernmental relations shape public policy. He tracks federal-state relations through the creation, formulation, and implementation of three of the most important health policy initiatives since the Great Society: the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), both passed by the U.S. Congress, and the Massachusetts health care reform program as it was developed and implemented under federal government waiver authority. He applies lessons learned from these cases to implementation of the Affordable Care Act. “Health policymaking is entangled in a complex web of shared, overlapping, and/or competing power relationships among different levels of government,” the author notes. Understanding federal-state interactions, the ways in which they vary, and the reasons for such variation is essential to grasping the ultimate impact of federalism on programs and policy. Doonan reveals how federalism can shift as the sausage of public policy is made while providing a new framework for comprehending one of the most polarizing debates of our time.

​Health care is a very important component of the American economy. The United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) put the 2008 direct health care expenditures at about $2.34 trillion, or about 16.2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), or an average of $7,681 spent for every man, woman, and child in the country. Health care cost increases have caused very serious problems that threaten to bankrupt the system, providers, employers, and the families that pay the costs that their health insurance plans do not cover. Additionally, cost increases have reduced access to health care services, adversely affected the quality of care, and resulted in avoidable illnesses, premature deaths, and in health disparities based on race, ethnicity, and income. Consequently, health care reform has continuously been on the public and governmental agendas. It is out of this environment that several reform plans, including the 1993 Health Security Act, and the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), were launched. This book examines the ideological, social, cultural, economic, and several other factors that dictate the various measures and approaches employed to tackle the perceived problems. The book has an index, tables, charts and figures, lists of major terms, and review questions for each chapter. This book will appeal to students in Master of Health Administration (MHA), Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Public Administration (MPA), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), health certificate programs, and junior and senior level undergraduate students in political science, public administration, public health, and public policy. In addition to serving as a core text for health policy and administration classes, the book will serve as a supplementary text for graduate level courses.

Rev. ed. of: Principles and practice of public health survrveillance / edited by Steven M. Teutsch, R. Elliott Churchill. 2nd ed. 2000.

Designated a Doody's Core Title! Winner of an AJN Book of the Year Award! Who Has a Right to Health Care? What Is the Government's Role in Providing Accessible Health Care? How Are Corporations, Insurance Companies, and Health Care Providers Affecting the Quality of Health Care? And, Most Importantly, Can We Reform the U.S. Health Care System? We often debate these issues in health care policy or public health courses, yet we do so without the proper knowledge of the underlying structure of the U.S. health care system--or a framework by which it can be judged. Many health care workers entering the system are ill-equipped to address the issues faced in direct health care practice, in part because they have no ability to evaluate it. In this innovative text, Gunnar Almgren provides all the tools necessary to understand and critique a health care policy in dire need of change. First, he describes the historical evolution of U.S. health care, explaining how the early roles of hospitals, doctors, and nurses still influence today's system. He explains the complex financial aspects of health care, including the concerns of all its major stakeholders. He looks at the government's role in regulating and funding health care, and how that role has expanded and contracted through various political administrations. An entire chapter describes the facilities and services available for the elderly--an issue that will continue to rise in importance as America ages. Finally, he examines the many causes of disparities in the U.S. health care system. In addition, Almgren offers a unique social justice analysis as a framework by which the current system--and proposed reforms--can be judged. By analyzing the health care system through various models of social justice, we can begin to understand and address the urgent issues of economic, racial, and geographic disparities that plague our current system. With its clear, thorough, and comprehensive coverage of U.S. health care, this unique text is accessible to all those in public health, nursing, social work, public policy, or public administration. No other book addresses the underlying issues of the U.S. health care system alongside a variety of social justice models that we can use to evaluate, and perhaps eventually, change it.

Breakthroughs in biomedicine often lead to new life-giving treatments but may also raise troubling, even life-and-death, quandaries. Society's Choices discusses ways for people to handle today's bioethics issues in the context of America's unique history and cultureâ€"and from the perspectives of various interest groups. The book explores how Americans have grappled with specific aspects of bioethics through commission deliberations, programs by organizations, and other mechanisms and identifies criteria for evaluating the outcomes of these efforts. The committee offers recommendations on the role of government and professional societies, the function of commissions and institutional review boards, and bioethics in health professional education and research. The volume includes a series of 12 superb background papers on public moral discourse, mechanisms for handling social and ethical dilemmas, and other specific areas of controversy by well-known experts Ronald Bayer, Martin Benjamin, Dan W. Brock, Baruch A. Brody, H. Alta Charo, Lawrence Gostin, Bradford H. Gray, Kathi E. Hanna, Elizabeth Heitman, Thomas Nagel, Steven Shapin, and Charles M. Swezey.

The Public Policy Process is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the process by which public policy is made. Explaining clearly the importance of the relationship between theoretical and practical aspects of policy-making, the book gives a thorough overview of the people and organisations involved in the process. Fully revised and updated for a sixth edition, The Public Policy Process provides

Each of us is, to a certain extent, dangerous to his or her own health, but how far do we want the government to curb our freedom to be "foolish"? In a look at such highly charged health issues as smoking, alcohol, road safety, and AIDS, Howard Leichter analyzes the efforts of the United States and Great Britain to confront the seemingly constant tension involved with this question. Leichter contends that both governments are now paying less attention to providing access to health care and more to forcing or encouraging people to change their behavior. The result has been a transformation of health politics from a largely consensual to a largely conflictual enterprise: health promotion policies often provoke debate on issues filled with scientific uncertainties, while taking on the quality of a disagreeable moral crusade. A primary concern of this book is to account for the differences, as well as the similarities, between the two countries in their public health policies. Leichter examines, for example, why seat belt regulation flourished in the American states even when federal action was blocked while, in Britain's more concentrated political structure, similar regulation faced a tortuous political path through the Lords and Commons. Finding that the United States is more apt to use formal regulation and that Britain tends toward voluntary agreement, Leichter compares the two approaches. Neither government avoids conflict, he maintains, but regulation, despite its problems, is more effective. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.