The decisions, strategies, and procedures that are implemented to attain certain healthcare goals within a society are referred to as health policy. Chapter 13 gives the definition of health policy, describes the health policy and the legislative process of the U.S., points out major policy problems, and describes the National Health Reform. There were two moments in the chapter that caught my attention: mental health policy and the influence of American mentality on the U.S. health policy.
The way of thinking in American culture has a significant impact on state policy, and health policy is no exception. In some nations, the government is very important to the health care system. However, in the U.S., the government delegated the management of state-funded health care to the private sector. It is brought about by the unique characteristic of American culture: intolerance for state meddling in people’s personal matters. The United States has a tremendously complex healthcare system due to American cultural ideas. For example, the decentralized role of the states in health policy, the incremental, piecemeal fashion of the health policy, and the protection of interests of several groups of people (Shi and Singh 315). It is unique that the mentality of the public has such an influence on policy-making.
Another point is that despite all the steps made, the government has been unable to address mental health policy issues. There have been four reforms to mental health policy in the U.S., and several policies and programs, including the 2011 National Prevention Strategy, have been implemented (Shi and Singh 327). Despite that, the issue of mental health treatment in the healthcare system continues to be complicated. Most of the solutions are patient-oriented, such as providing a person with PTSD with 15 extra days off from work. Rather than preventing mental diseases, these interventions appear to cope with their effects. The solution would be to address the root causes of the mental diseases, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and poor living conditions. Because those problems are so difficult to address, there are still challenges with mental health.
Works Cited
Shi, Leiyu, and Douglas Singh. Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2019.