Role of the States In Health Care Policy Essay -- States Role in Heal

The government’s responsibilities concerning health care has grown over the last 100 years. After the Great Depression, Social Security was formed; and in the 1960s, Medicare and Medicaid were enacted. Federal responsibilities grew until the â€Å"New Federalism† of the 1990s increased reliance on the states for health care (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). Smaller, more local government can represent its citizen’s values better, and it knows the nature of its citizens’ problems. The New Federalism did not significantly change health policy; it gave the states more authority in setting policy and more flexibility in administering programs (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). States and localities became the primary authorities in regard to health and welfare benefits. While the states welcome the increase in policy flexibility, the rising costs of healthcare and welfare put constraints on state budgets. As a result, states and localities are being forced to become more creative. Although Medicaid continues to place an enormous fiscal burden on states, programs like Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have proven to be successful in terms of appropriately expanding benefits while reducing caseloads (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). States continue to serve as the primary distributors of social service benefits, but decreasing federal support, uncertain state economies, and the increasing need to provide long-term care to healthcare recipients are placing overwhelming burdens on states to maintain and expand existing programs. The role of the states in protecting and promoting the health of the population is broad and complex, but can be described within six broad functions: (1) guardians of the public’s health, (2) purchasers of healthcare servi... ...s that relies on data from assessment and monitoring activities, surveys and reporting systems, and projection techniques. Then, this data must be transformed into meaningful information to support effective policy decisions (Longest, 2010, pp. 29-57). Health policies should bridge the gaps between the current situation and desired outcomes without the financial influence of lobbyists. References Indiana State Department of Health. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2011, from http://www.in.gov/isdh/ Longest, B. B., Jr. (2010). The context and process of health policymaking. In T. D. McBride (Ed.), Health policy making in the United States (5th ed., pp. 30-33). Chicago, IL: Health Adminstration Press. Maurer, F., & Smith, C. (2005). Community/public health nursing practice: Health for families and populations (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://books.google.com