Chapter 16 Discussion

What in your view is the most important policy issue facing the United States? Why is it important and which specific problems need to be solved? Respond to at least 2 other students’ posts.

Chapter 16 Learning Objectives:

• Explain the concept of public policy
  • Identify the key domestic arenas of public policy
  • Describe the major social safety net programs

Remember to incorporate the course readings to form a foundation for your responses. Be sure to discuss relevant examples. Additionally, you must properly cite the course text (Krutz, 2020, page number). Consult the Discussion Grading Guidelines for additional details. 

Please respond by 7/28/2021 so I can send my peers posts. 

Reading material below.

https://egcc.instructure.com/courses/19684/modules…

First peer below

What in your view is the most important policy issue facing the United States? Why is it important and which specific problems need to be solved?

The most important policy in this nation to me is our healthcare. There is an abundance of families who refuse to go to the doctor due to the lack of healthcare insurance. Especially in our lower income communities around the United States. It is a major issue today, with this pandemic there were thousands of individuals that refused to go to a medical facility because they did not have insurance and some of these individuals did not survive this diesis. This issue is very important if this pandemic showed us anything it showed us that we were not prepared for how fast and how understaffed we are in our medical field.

We need to sign a policy where Americans that can’t afford health insurance are covered for necessities such as insulin for those that are diabetic. We are a great nation, and it is the people of this nation that make it so great even those we see sleeping on the streets, we need to understand that healthcare is more then money if we have the tools to help someone and refuse to do so because they don’t have insurance should be a crime. Our leaders should take what happened with this pandemic and learn from our mistakes so that if we do happen to go through another global pandemic Americans will have assurance that our healthcare system will be open to all who shows up there facilities.

Second peer below

What in your view is the most important policy issue facing the United States? Why is it important and which specific problems need to be solved?

I would have to say to me the most important policies facing the United States would be protecting individual rights to autonomy. We have seen over the past year and a half how eager the world’s governments are to take away their citizens rights while trying to force people to have medical treatments. If our personal freedoms are not protected, it will show that we are no better than Germany in the 1930s and 40s. Many other government programs bother me, and I greatly dislike wasteful spending of taxpayer money, but none of those things directly effect each person as much as being able to choose the medical treatments you want to, and where the clothing that you want to.

We have similar groups of people currently trying to uphold abortion laws using the argument of bodily autonomy, while also demanding people to take medical treatments. The rest of the world is protesting by the hundreds of thousands, so hopefully we will not allow our freedoms to be taken away here either.

Explain the concept of public policy

A set of broad strategy government uses to do its jo and it is the relatively stable set of purposive governmental actions that address matters of concern to some part of society (Krutz, 2019, p. 590).

Identify the key domestic arenas of public policy

• Social welfare policy
  • Policies created to help those in need of economic help, otherwise known as the “safety net”
• Science, technology, and education
  • This category is self-explanatory. Money that is spent on research, new technologies and educating the public
• Business stimulus and regulation
  • Help businesses and industries that are struggling
  • Regulate what businesses do, for example:
    • OSHA, workers safety
    • FDA, food, and medicine safety
    • EPA, protecting the environment

Describe the major social safety net programs

• Social Security
  • A retirement benefit
  • A disability payout
• Medicaid
  • Formula-based health insurance program which beneficiaries must demonstrate they fall within a particular income category (Krutz, 2019, p. 603)
• Medicare
  • Low-cost health care for senior citizens and retirees (Krutz, 2019, p. 603)