One of the government’s roles is to better the lives of its citizens, and this is only possible if the leadership is intentional in achieving related goals. Regardless of the political party, the president has a role in pushing for policies that meet the needs of all Americans. Consequently, the three presidents, Trump, Obama, and Bush, used different approaches in advocating for affordable healthcare policies to improve the general population’s wellbeing. It is necessary to understand their strengths and weaknesses to establish how future presidents can effectively promote health-related policymaking processes.
President George Bush spearheaded a number of healthcare reforms during his reign. The Health Savings Account (HSA) is one of the health policies the president advocated for. He aimed to ensure more portable, transparent, efficient, and affordable medical services (Milstead & Short, 2019). President Bush set his agenda right, ensuring Americans had to access to relevant information regarding the quality and cost of healthcare services in hospitals (Lamb et al., 2015). Currently, the policy helps Americans understand why they are saving for medical coverage and the services they should expect.
When Barrack Obama took over the presidency in 2009, improving healthcare was among his top agendas. Consequently, he facilitated the development of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, prominently known as Obamacare. The president’s administration aspired to give all Americans access to low-cost health insurance coverage (Pope et al., n.d.). Therefore, the purpose of ACA was to shield consumers from insurance company schemes that might increase the costs incurred by a patient and limit medical care. However, the primary limitation of ACA is that Americans have been forced to pay higher taxes as a result because the implementation of the policy needs funds. Although the ACA has granted Americans access to medical services, they still pay for it through increased taxes.
Donald Trump is one of the most controversial American heads of state in history, considering he only reigned for one term. Nonetheless, he also participated in the formulation of health care policies, especially with the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic (Lamb et al., 2015). The president signed into law two Acts in 2020, and these are the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. $484 billion was allocated by the former to support testing and hospitals, while $2trillion was allocated by the latter to help families affected by the pandemic. President Trump’s cabinet played a significant role in realigning the government’s agenda with the pandemic to ensure related policies were discharged (Kingdon, 2001). Even though the policies have been implemented, there are questions on whether Trump’s government could have done more.
The three presidents reigned in different times and faced unique challenges. Providing affordable healthcare was the agenda of Presidents Bush and Obama, and, therefore, they took different approaches (The White House, n.d.). By introducing the HSA Act, President Bush allowed Americans to pay lower federal income taxes to save money and pay for medical expenses that are not covered by one’s High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Obama, on the other hand, developed the ACA policy to lower the cost of insurance contributions by disadvantaged individuals (USA.gov, n.d.). However, both of these policies have their disadvantages. The introduction of HSA meant that consumers would pay a lot of money to start enjoying medical coverage, while ACA has led to an increase in overall taxes.
Consequently, if I were in the president’s position I would create a policy, which identifies the specific group of individuals who cannot cover their medical expenses and include that in the national expenditure and budget. Similarly, President Trump’s challenges in developing health reform policies in the midst of a pandemic were the result of unpreparedness. As a president, my aim would be to facilitate the creation and administration of a health crisis preparedness policy to ensure all Americans still enjoy medical coverage regardless of the situation. All policies have challenges, but conducting a review can help improve their implementation.
References
Kingdon, J.W. (2001). A model of agenda-setting with applications. Law Review M.S.U.-D.C.L., 2(331)
Lamb, G., Newhouse, R., Beverly, C., Toney, D., Cropley, S., & Weaver, C. et al. (2015). Policy agenda for nurse-led care coordination. Nursing Outlook, 63(4), 521-530.
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Pope, A., Snyder, M., & Mood, L. (n.d.). Nursing Health, & Environment: Strengthening the Relationship to Improve the Public’s Health. Institute Of Medicine (US) Committee on Enhancing Environmental Health Content in Nursing Practice.
The White House. (n.d.). The Cabinet. The White House.
USA.gov. (n.d.). Executive departments.