Historical Role of the Executive in Health Care Policy
Historically, the executive branch of the government has been involved in the preparation of policies associated with health care some of which have played a central role in building better platforms for women to access quality health care services. The head of the executive branch, who is the President, engages in discussions with different stakeholders in a bid to finding amicable avenues for the enactment of policies that would support the delivery of health care services to the women. Before implementation of any policy touching on the health of women in the country, it has become important for leaders within the executive branch to focus on holding focus groups with all stakeholders involved. The focus groups help in the collection of views and ideas on how the policies implemented would help build a platform for access to quality health services to match women’s needs in the country.
On the other hand, the executive branch of the government, which holds significant influence on matters associated with policy enactment and implementation, influences the decisions made by all the other branches of the government on matters of women’s health. For example, the introduction of a women’s reproductive health care policy in Congress, which is the legislative branch of the government, must focus on the views presented by the executive branch (Kadivar, Kenzik, Dewalt, & Huang, 2016). In most cases, members of the Congress tend to seek guidance from the executive on the decisions that they ought to take with regard to the implementation of such policies. Thus, this suggests that the historical role of the executive branch in matters of women’s health care policy has remained important especially in ensuring that women access the best quality of health care services.
Influence of the Executive Branch on Current State of Women’s Health
The influence associated with the executive branch on the current state of women’s health in the United States cannot be ignored, as it is evident that it has worked towards defining the effective women’s health policy. The United States has one of the most accommodative health systems that serve the needs and demands by individual groups accessing health care including women. The main influence of the executive branch in building this health system has come about through funding, as the executive is mandated with providing funds for different functions (Fazeli Dehkordy, Hall, Dalton, & Carlos, 2016). In this case, the executive branch presents a clear-cut breakdown of how funds in the health care system would be utilized focusing more on women’s health as a key priority. On the other hand, the executive has had a notable influence on the current state of women health by creating guidelines that states ought to adopt as part of their strategies towards building effective health care systems.
Each state within the United States is responsible for the development of its individual health care system based on the guidelines presented from the federal government, which funds the individual systems. Thus, this means that it is somewhat easier for the federal government to work towards building its influence on the state governments allowing them to focus more of their attention towards women’s health. Crissman, Hall, Patton, Zochowski, Davis, and Dalton (2016) argue that the issue of women’s health has remained relevant within the health care guidelines by the federal government, through the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for implementation and enforcement of policies touching on health. The executive branch of the government finds it easier when seeking support for some of its policies especially those of which touch on matters of women’s health.
How the Role and Influence has Changed over Time
The role and influence of the executive branch focusing on women’s health care policy have changed severally over time attributed to the significant changes associated with needs and expectations among women accessing health care services. The key change in the role of the executive has come about due to the introduction of ways in which the executive branch of the government would be positioned to implement executive orders surrounding the idea of health care access. In every election, presidential candidates come up with different views on the existing policies some of which they intend or want to change once elected to the presidential office.
In most cases, this comes about through issuance of executive orders, which override the key policies touching on the aspects of health identified, which is common when dealing with the issue of women’s health. On the other hand, the key change associated with the influence of the executive branch has come about due to a situation where the executive branch tends to control all elements associated with health care. In such cases, it is much easier for the executive branch to enforce some of the policies that would align to its set goals and objectives especially when intending to build an effective health system.
Branch and Level of Government
The branch of government that should have the largest role in women’s health care is the legislative branch, which would work towards implementation of policies that align to the set standards with regard to health care access for the women. Providing the legislative branch with the highest influence guarantees that the government would be in a position to streamline the policies to match set expectations. On the other hand, the level of government that ought to have the largest role is the state government, which is the primary level of government that handles all matters associated with health.
References
Crissman, H. P., Hall, K. S., Patton, E. W., Zochowski, M. K., Davis, M. M., & Dalton, V. K. (2016). US women's intended sources for reproductive health care. Journal of Women's Health, 25(1), 91-98.
Fazeli Dehkordy, S., Hall, K. S., Dalton, V. K., & Carlos, R. C. (2016). The link between everyday discrimination, healthcare utilization, and health status among a national sample of women. Journal of Women's Health, 25(10), 1044-1051.
Kadivar, H., Kenzik, K. M., Dewalt, D. A., & Huang, I. C. (2016). The association of English functional health literacy and the receipt of mammography among Hispanic Women compared to Non-Hispanic us-born white women. PloS One, 11(10), 1-11.
