Process Medicare Essay

To start off this paper will discuss the process of a policy in Medicaid and how it becomes a policy. Medicaid Policies are always being reviewed and analyzed in order to help improve the American health care system. Each policy does and has the ability to affect us on a daily basis, so when policies are being put up for consideration we all have to be very careful when trying to change or implement a new or old policy. It is very important to have all involved understand the process of how a topic of a policy eventually does become a policy. This paper will explain all the stages that a policy goes thorough in order to become a policy, there are three stages; formulation stage, legislative stage, and lastly the implementation stage. There will be information given on all of these three stages and there process. The Formulation Stage First thing in the formulation stage any health research policy should be formulated then conform to an overall national development plan in order to become a policy. There are different stages with in the formulation stage that a policy has to go through in order to move on to the next stage. Frist is the organizing the policy development process, then defining the issues, setting goals and objectives, setting the priorities, drafting options, apprising the options, circulating for staff review and then revising the policy. Next there is the obtaining of the endorsement of the policy. Once it is endorsed and approved it can move on to the next stage of the policy process. Policy formulation is an iterative process that involves almost components of the cycle of planning for a policy. The main individuals that should be involved in the formulation stage of the policy process are the health/medical research counsels, they have are in collaboration with the ministry of health, ministry of science and technology, and a university consortium may be needed for a focal group. If a focal group is used then ideally they should be located in an area that has the influences politically and that are administratively strong. Also there should be a department nearby that is logistically capable of managing the process, and a department that had the ability to take the end policy results and be able to appropriately implement it. With all these aspects of the formulation stage there should be no issues in getting the policy process to the next stage and off the ground and running. (Teaching and Learning Materials 1997) Medicaid Legislative Stage In the legislative stage the process of getting a policy or in politics they call it a law and there is a federal process that it goes through, there are several steps to this federal process. When a policy or law makes it to the legislative part of the process the policy or law is numbered then the Human Resources signifies to the House bill and the Senate bill then it gets referred to a committee then printed by the government printing office. This is the first step in the legislative process Referral to Committee then it is brought to the next step called Committee Action when the policy reaches this point it is then put on a calendar, then it is processed and introduced. It is then investigated for the need of new legislation and the committee then oversees the Executive Branch but only with the committee’s areas of jurisdiction. When the policy is here committees and subcommittees are the people that make the decisions about and what content and language the policy will contain. After the committee investigated there is a publication of a written report this report explains the impact the policy will have on any existing policies or laws, then the policy goes into the next step called scheduling floor action. In this part of the process the policy is then reported back to the chamber where it first came from and placed on a calendar, and then the speaker and majority leader determine what when the order of the polices will be heard and discussed. Once it gets heard then it is up for debate on whether it should pass or be thrown out, this is the next step in the legislative process. Once it is discussed and determined that is too move on then the policy is put up for a vote this is a really simple process majority wins and the policy if passed will be then referred to other chambers. This chamber may then approve, at it is or they can revise, reject, or not take action at all on the policy. If approved it goes on to the what is called the final floor action this is when both the senate and the house have to accept and sign the policy then it is taken up to the Executive level to be signed by the president. Then it is sent to the president for his or her approval if he or she signs it right away it becomes a set policy but he or she has ten days to take action if he or she does nothing while the congress is in session then it becomes a set policy without signing it. Leirman, T. Tometz, A. (1998) Medicaid Implementation Stage This is the stage where the policy is then acted up on and put into place and set for all to follow and start using and upholding as part of the companies laws so to speak. It is like starting to put the policy into play and abide by what it stands for. It is like working a t a factory and there are many jobs on an assembly line and there are new jobs added to the line there is a trial and errir period that goes along with the implementation stage to weed out and fix any issues that may occur before the policy or job is put into place on a full time basis. Congress also jas to mandate and evaluate the effectiveness of the new policy as well to make sure that it will work like the projections and plans set it up to work. For example the implementation of what is called SCHIP on the state of Illinois where I am from, when they put this program into play not just in Illinois but five other states have reported that they have also developed new programs or also improved existing policies that improves the availability, affordability, and the quality of health care that is delivered. Since then as well there have been many other changes since the implementation of this program this also either directly or indirectly also effects the availability and affordability of health care for the future for the good not that bad which is always a good thing. Background for the Report to Congress (March 2003) In conclusion policies are always and constantly being looked at considered and reviewed to be able to improve the quality of our health care on a daily basis. Also to improve the quality of the American Health Care System, because each policy that is introduced and considered has the potential and may have an adverse effect to each one of us on a daily type basis, so when a policy is considered and brought to the table we all have to make sure that it is reviewed very carefully to ensure that its benefits out weight its drawbacks that it may have, it also has to ensure that it is being considered too that new policies will always help the population as a whole and not just for certain individuals. It is very important to have a complete understanding of how the process of a topic eventually does become a policy and how the policy is to be played out and used to its full potential in order for it not to fail.