The Influence of Politics and Economic Interests on Health Policy

The Influence of Politics and Economic Interests on Health Policy
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The Influence of Politics and Economic Interests on Health Policy
The power of politics and economic interests in influencing health policy development and direction is immense. It takes considerable effort and resources from various political actors and groups to formulate and implement health policy. In addition, the modification of health policy is also dependent on a political process by key stakeholders such as policymakers and interest groups. The development and progress of major health policies in the history of the U.S. healthcare system have been influenced significantly by politics and economic interests. This paper examines the influence politics and economic interests have on the development and direction of health policy, particularly Medicare.
The Influence of Interest Group
Interest groups are constant stakeholders in the development and direction of health policy. As informed by Longest (2016), regardless of whether they are made of organizations or individuals, interest groups front a unified position on issues and their solutions. In essence, interest groups seek to develop and advance policies that favor their members. As put by Longest (2016), interest groups employ approaches such as electioneering, lobbying, litigation, and shaping public opinion to advance or block policies. In this case, policies that do not align with their interests are blocked. Through lobbying, interest groups form alliances with policymakers and consistently seek to influence the different stages of the policymaking process. Their friendships with political figures, often the policymakers, are instrumental in influencing policy decisions. Furthermore, through electioneering, interest groups utilize their resources to aid candidates sympathetic to their interests (Longest, 2016). Campos and Reich (2019) point out that interest groups can also capture the regulatory agency mandated to implement policy and influence how policy is implemented. The events that led to the formulation and enactment of Medicare in 1965 are a perfect example of the influence interest can have on the policy development process.
When considerations began for what would be Medicare in the late 1950s, the health policy arena was characterized by powerful interest groups, including the American Medical Association (AMA), the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), and employers (Gordon, 2003). Each of these groups had economic interests in the healthcare sector, and therefore, they had to ensure that the health policies developed aligned with their interests. The Forand Bill introduced in 1958 sought to provide a range of medical care to the beneficiaries of Social Security Pension (Gordon, 2003). While insurers conceded that the Forand bill would cover risks they avoided, most interest groups, especially AMA, were worried that the bill would lay the ground for "socialized medicine.”
AMA was quite influential in policy decisions before the enactment of Medicare. After being successful in the 1940s, Gordon (2003) pointed out AMA moved to establish further its political influences by expanding and reorganizing its Washington offices. The organization had a significant influence on Congress and played a key role in shaping political debates in the healthcare sector. By the late 50s, the influence of AMA extended beyond legislative fields to the agencies, where it could shape bills before they were introduced and direct regulations after laws were passed (Gordon, 2003). Although AMA was generally in support of Republicans, it maintained kept its doors open to Democrats by employ...