Health Policy and the Federal Government

Health Policy and the Federal Government

Introduction

The US Congress tends to be based on the bicameral legislature of the federal government. It consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress divides the work of writing national legislation through managing different committees which have expertise in different areas (Donovan, 2004). The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each of which represents a constituency and get re-elected every two years. Seats in the House of Representatives get apportioned among the states based on population. The Senate has 100 members serving a six-year term. Each state has two senators regardless of population and after every two years, about one-third of the Senate gets re-elected. In the context of the paper we intend to shed light on the role of the congress and its modus operandi. It would be done through different perspectives in order to develop an effective and efficient understanding of the subject.

Discussion

As indicated earlier that the role of the U.S congress tends to be central in every single policy which is framed. As far as the health policy is concerned the fact needs to be kept in mind that the modus operandi tends to be the same. In order to formulate the health policy the suggestions tends to be passed through a committee which tends to deal with the health issues. As a result the matter is looked upon in the committee with the appropriate experts in order to frame the policy which can serve nation effectively and efficiently. Since health is a complicated issue therefore, the committee has every right to take the suggestions from the members of the civil society which are not a part of the congress. It is primarily done to formulate a policy which can serve the citizens of the United States of America.

Modus Operandi of the Congress

The normal process of conversion of a bill into a law is present in the Constitution. This process consists of following details, which are as follows:

Submission of Bill

Bill starts from various sources, but initially from members of Congress or may be submit to a member by a constituent or couple of constituents (Donovan, 2004).

Representatives, in the House forward the bill to a bin which is for receiving new bills.

In Senate, submission of bill occurs in the office of President.

Bills usually bring into attention in either house, as discussed earlier; and to come as ...