From your own research, what interest group did you find? Please list its name and website information.
Families USA is the interest group that is to be evaluated in this paper. The information about the group was retrieved from their official website.
From your own research, list three important pieces of information that give us a picture of what your interest group believes.
In the key issues section, the following pieces of information were found: health equity, Medicaid, and health system transformation. The interest group believes that access to healthcare needs to be equal to all, Medicaid needs to be maintained and funded because it allows people with disabilities or low income to receive health care services, and transforming health care is crucial so that patients and doctors are treated with respect and dignity.
From your own research, describe a specific policy action your group desires.
The interest group works on a policy that will provide expanded access to oral care for more than 130 million Americans (Families USA). The group suggests adding oral health benefits both to Medicare and to Medicaid (Families USA). Since oral health services remain expensive, the group will focus on providing an issue-related policy.
From your own research, whom does this group lobby most, or most effectively? For example, is there a political party or certain congressional representatives who seem to get more of its attention, money, or information? Which committees and subcommittees would it particularly lobby?
The group extensively lobbied (and continues to lobby) the Affordable Care Act. One can assume that the group also lobbied for Barack Obama’s presidency since the Affordable Care Act was Obama’s initiative. The press release from their website about Clinton’s proposal that was capable of reducing drug companies’ prices indicates that the organization lobbied Hillary Clinton during the Presidential election in 2016 (Families USA). Thus, it is more likely that the group will lobby the representatives of the Democratic Party. The group would probably lobby the Subcommittee on Health, veterans’ affairs, and science, space, and technology.
From your congress.gov research, what is the title of the legislation (include its origination or appropriate numbers)?
The title of the legislation is found on the website of the Congress: “H.R.246 – To repeal the annual fee on health insurance providers enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (The United States Congress). The bill was introduced on 01/04/2017.
From your congress.gov research, who are its key sponsors and their party affiliation?
It is difficult to identify the key sponsors. However, among 148 sponsors of the bill, 141 are from the Republican Party, and seven are from the Democratic Party. The bill was introduced by Representative Kristi L. Noem from the Republican Party.
From your congress.gov research, what is its current status within Congress?
The bill is introduced. It was referred to the Subcommittee on Health on 01/25/2017 (The United States Congress).
From your congress.gov research, describe briefly your personal reaction to this legislation. Do you think it will pass and do you think it should pass? Why? (Two to three sentences are required.)
The bill can reduce the costs of health insurance providers if they are allowed to pay no annual fees. It remains unclear whether this bill will positively influence the prices and costs in health care. The legislation should pass if it does not lead to serious increases in costs of health care services.
References
American Civil Liberties Union. (2017). Take action. Web.
Families USA. (2017). Key issues. Web.
The United States Congress. (2017). Legislations. Web.