Health Policy (Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay)

Health Policy
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Health Policy
Health policies include various guiding principles made primarily to guide a particular group, organization or sector involved in health matters. These decisions made by individuals mandated with authority thus affect all parties involving providers, patients and other providers to ensure smooth operations (Shi, 2014). Public health policies affect all citizens since they involve government agencies and bodies such as Congress that may pass such policies that bind all citizens. Such decisions made by the legislature require presidential assent for implementation, after which the judiciary becomes involved in interpreting such policies to the public. Therefore, health policy plays a critical role in the overall development plan of a country due to its far-reaching impact on both individual and community levels.
Allocative Health Policies
Allocative health policies enable a distinct group of people in a population to directly benefit to satisfy a greater public objective. These policies ensure that the medical sector does not struggle with the undersupply of materials, human resources, and medical supplies. In most cases, allocative health policies offer subsidies to ensure that such aspects of the medical industry do not suffer from shortages that may affect the stability of public health (Longest, 2016). For instance, medical insurance may be highly subsidized by the government to ensure that people from poor backgrounds can access medical services. The government may also employ federal funding to assists vulnerable groups such as veterans and immigrants that may require specific treatment from health institutions. These actions thus ensure that sections of the population can access adequate health services through the construction of hospitals, proper staffing, and access to financial assistance that form part of the government strategy to improve service delivery in the healthcare sector.
Regulatory Health Policies
Regulatory health policies intend to influence the actions and behaviors of parties involved in providing services in the healthcare sector through directives. Such directives ensure that the government can control the industry, thus guaranteeing public safety and meeting its health agenda (Longest, 2016). These guidelines further affect both private and public entities that are bound to comply so as to operate. For instance, quality regulations ensure that health institutions maintain safe practices that adhere to globally accepted standards. In this case, medication and equipment must meet specific criteria for use in the institutions. Furthermore, other types of regulations, such as social ones, ensure that health institutions do not discriminate and offer services to all in need. In contrast, market-entry regulations require licensing that ensures qualified personnel work in facilities that meet regulatory standards. Therefore, regulatory health policies ensure that the go...