ESSAY: Agenda Comparison Grids

In Part 1 of this module’s Assignment, you were asked to begin work on an Agenda Comparison Grid to compare the impact of the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidents’ agendas on the healthcare item you selected for study.

Consider how federal agendas promote healthcare issues and how these healthcare issues become agenda priorities.

ANSWER

Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief Assignment Template for Part 1 and Part 2

Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid

Use this Agenda Comparison Grid to document information about the population health/healthcare issue your selected and the presidential agendas. By completing this grid, you will develop a more in depth understanding of your selected issue and how you might position it politically based on the presidential agendas.

You will use the information in the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid to complete the remaining Part 2 and Part 3 of your Assignment.

Identify the Population Health concern you selected.	Heart disease and stroke
Describe the Population Health concern you selected and the factors that contribute to it.	In the US, strokes and other heart-related problems contribute to over 610,000 annual deaths, which translates to one in every four deaths. It is the leading cause of death among adults in the USA. Some of the factors contributing to this menace include smoking, high cholesterol levels, lack of or inadequate exercise, obesity, excessive blood sugar levels, and high blood pressure.
Administration (President Name)	(Current President)	(Previous President)	(Previous President)
Describe the administrative agenda focus related to this issue for the current and two previous presidents.	Trump’s administration seeks to advance this by reducing the growing costs of healthcare, including medication and treatment procedures for people with heart-related problems.	Obama’s government prioritized heart-related problems and health care in general, with the primary focus of his agenda being to promote the welfare of all Americans, regardless of their racial, economic, or religious background (Obama, 2017). He ensured that affordable health care was not a privilege to the Americans but a right.	George Bush administration understood that heart-related problems were widespread among the elderly. They, therefore, focused on providing quality and affordable care to all populations, with a keen interest in such individuals (Smith, 2017).
Identify the allocations of financial and other resources that the current and two previous presidents dedicated to this issue.	In 2018, there was a reduction in the fund allocation for health care by 27.9 billion US dollars (Jones, 2017). The financial resource allocation to states for the 2019 fiscal year was 1.8 billion US dollars.	Obama’s government spent over 630 billion US dollars over ten years in the financing of health care reforms.	For ten years, George Bush’s government spent over 9.4 billion US dollars in funding Medicaid.
Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue.	His government is focusing on providing quality care to people with heart-related diseases by cutting down the costs of treatment in public medical institutions.	The president’s objective under his health care plan was retaining all the necessary parties involved in the provision of health care. The government also focused on reducing the cost of health care, especially for those Americans who could not afford quality care (Obama, 2017).	The Bush administration sought to provide quality care for victims of heart problems through, offering zero premiums for those insured under Medicaid (Smith, 2017).

Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis

Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, complete the following to document information about the population health/healthcare issue your selected

Administration (President Name)	(Current President)	(Previous President)	(Previous President)
Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?	The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)	The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)	The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the agenda for the current and two previous presidents? How does it stay there?	The issue of heart-related problems and strokes may get on the agenda for the Trump administration if proper channels are used. Public outcry through the media may also contribute to such programs reaching the President and becoming an agenda.	The power of particular groups such as heart movements played a significant role in ensuring such policies joined the President’s agendas.	For such a sensitive issue to be handled under the Bush administration, the legislative group handling the matter had to have a say in the government.
Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected for the current and two previous presidents?	No.	Yes. His agendas on health care reform were more people-oriented and, therefore, more effective as compared to those of the other two presidents.	No.

Note: Part 3: of the Module 1: Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief is a 1-page Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief the you will create in a separate document.

References

Jones, D. K. (2017). Lavatories of democracy? Health reform and federalism in the Trump era. The Milbank Quarterly, 95(3), 470.

Obama, B. H. (2017). Repealing the ACA without a replacement—the risks to American health care. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, 72(5), 263-264.

Smith, D. G. (2017). Paying for Medicare: The politics of reform. Routledge.