Public Health refers to a branch of medicine that aims at protecting and improving the health of the community members and families through the campaign of healthy lifestyles, research and control of diseases. The public health care policy is the laws enacted to help achieve specific health care goals within an entire population. World Health Organization states that public health policies are the decisions that are made with an aim of achieving specific health care goals within a society. It comprises of a well-defined vision that helps achieve both the short-term and long-term goals. The process of creating laws and setting standards for the federal government is known as the policy making process. All in three branches of the government are involved in the policy-making process (Hunter, 2003).
The making of policy is mandated to the executive branch of the US government where the congress have the power to pass the laws of the federal government. The Congress is further divided into chambers, these are the House of Representatives and the Senate. Before a bill becomes a law, the consent of both chambers, and the President’s signature must be appended. The policy making process in America is costly, thus the benefits of the bill are analyzed to avoid misuse of funds. The federal laws apply to all states, hence, before implementing any law, it is important to ensure that there is an equilibrium between the federal and state rights. A bill was proposed for the Healthcare policy in America that involved the use of insurance in covering medical bills. It was suggested that there should be reforms in the healthcare industry through the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare, and the creation of an insurance exchange pool that was affordable especially to the low and middle Americans (Hunter, 2003).
The bill goes through a federal legislative process before becoming law or an act. As an American citizen who has the idea of a new law, the process involves contacting a Representative and discuss the idea. The ideas are researched and compiled into a bill, which is then introduced into the Congress. A person who introduces the bill is known as the sponsor, any member of the similar body (House or Senate) can request for addition into the bill after it has been introduced as a co-sponsor. In the House of Representatives, the bill is presented to the clerk who assigns it a number H.R meaning House Bill, but in the case that it was introduced in the Senate, the bill would be numbered S. for Senate Bill. The clerk presents the bill to the Senate after which the Speaker refers the Bill to a house standing Committee (Hamilton, 2005).
The chairman, during the committee stage, decides whether there will be a hearing on the bill or a markup. The committee members research on the topic and some amendments to the bill are carried out. A sub-committee can be elected to help vote for the bill before returning it to the committee for their final decision and approval. After the bill has been approved by the committee, it is sent to the House, where the US House of Representatives awaits it and debates over it. At the debate, the Representatives discuss the bill with reasons why it should be made a law or reasons disagreeing with it. Changes are made to the bill during the reading of the bill by the clerk and after completion, the bill is ready to be voted on. In the Senate, the same procedure is followed where the majority vote is required for an amendment and final decision. In this case, the voice vote, division, or recorded voting will determine whether the amendments will be accepted.
Majority votes by the Representatives enable the bill to pass and thus sent to the US Senate. The bill follows the same process as that of the House of Representatives before voting for or against the bill. A conference committee is formed in the event of differences between the two chambers, the House and Senate opinions. A bill cannot proceed to the next stage if both the House and Senate fail to agree. The legislation process is halted in case the conferees fail to reach an agreement, but in case they do, a conference report is prepared with all the necessary changes. The final step involves sending the bill to the president for approval. The president acknowledges the bill, and it becomes law if he agrees with it, or has the power to veto if he opposes the bill. The Congress can override the president’s veto if it is in session and he has taken more than ten days without taking any action. The bill becomes law if the US Senate and the House of Representatives passes it and lastly the president approves it. (Hamilton, 2005).
After the bill has been approved and becomes law, it is then implemented in all the 54 America States. (DHHS) The Department of Health and Human Services in the USA, a Federal government cabinet-level office mandated with the duty of protecting human life in America. The law on reforms in the healthcare industry regarding insurance is passed to the department, which then passes it on to the Minister of Health of all the states. The minister calls for a press meeting where he releases the law to the public and announces the specific date that it commences its use. Therefore, a bill has to be passed by the Congress and the president before it is released to the public.
References
Hamilton, J. (2005). How a bill becomes a law. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub. Co.
Hunter, D. (2003). Public health policy. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
