Public Health Policy with Stakeholders in Texas
The notion of the stakeholder process is one of the vital elements not only in the governance but also in the policymaking process. In most cases, stakeholders have been proposed as the platform for widespread reforms in healthcare to restore the legitimacy of an organization through active participation in the policymaking process. Stakeholders in the policymaking process provide a framework for brainstorming and getting the necessary buy-ins. Wang and Fan (2016) defined stakeholders as more or less organized groups of people affected either directly or indirectly by the decision of a healthcare organization or department. Engaging these stakeholders in the policymaking process ensures that their interests are taken into consideration during the policymaking process. This paper evaluated the roles and effectiveness of different stakeholders in the Texas public health policymaking process.
Insurance companies are critical stakeholders in the Texas public health policymaking process. The primary goal of health insurance companies is to make a profit. If there were no controls in place, they would only insure people who healthy because they will not want to incur more in covering the medical costs of the insured. The insurance industry stakeholders in Texas have been taking an active role in lobbying against any changes in the current policy that leads to increased government regulation for healthcare coverage. Some of the policies that insurance company players have been fiercely against are the Affordable Care Act, for example, Universal, Single Player healthcare (Ballotpedia, n.d.). The insurance companies make healthcare services affordable to all the members of the public. It improves access to quality healthcare services. Therefore, they should be involved in the policymaking process.
The government plays a crucial role in the policymaking process. It is the payer for healthcare services in its programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare. The government ensures that healthcare services are affordable and accessible to the members of the public. They provide that the policies formulated take into consideration the interest of the people- they protect the interest of the members of the public (Dang, & Mendon, 2016). All the policies should be aligned to the guidelines provided by relevant state and federal agencies. The agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have agencies and committees within them that are responsible for collecting data and proposing policies or solutions that will improve the quality of healthcare services and solutions to the problems facing healthcare systems.
Providers are the people who deliver health care services. They include the physical therapists, chiropractors, nurse clinicians, nurses, physicians, and others who provide different modalities of care services. The primary goals of healthcare providers are to provide adequate services to their clients at affordable costs. They ensure that the policies formulated by other stakeholders in healthcare take into consideration their interests. The effectiveness of the providers is that they ensure healthcare organizations provide high-quality services that meet the needs of their patients.
Professional organizations provide their members with undue treatment. They also ensure discipline among its members. These organizations protect the interests of professionals such as physical therapists, chiropractors, nurse clinicians, nurses, physicians, and others who deliver different modalities of care services (Dang, & Mendon, 2016). They also penalize those who deviate from the established code of conduct. Professional organizations ensure that the interests of their members are protected in the policymaking process. These organizations are effective because they instill discipline among the providers. They ensure that the services provided by the healthcare providers met standards.
In conclusion, the process of policymaking requires the involvement of all the stakeholders. Every stakeholder in the policymaking process has a unique role in the policymaking process. They represent the interests of different stakeholders in the Texas healthcare system. The involvement of all these stakeholders will ensure that the interests of these individual groups are considered to reduce resistance and increase buy-ins.