Factors that Affect the Health Policy

The health policy is affected by two intrinsic factors. These are: demanders and suppliers. Of course, other factors play a part too but these two are essential in attaining success in the health policies.

The demanders of health policies are comprised of the following:

* Individuals
* Organizations and
* Interest groups

Individuals, organizations and interest groups are people in pursuit of health or those who are after economic advantage. Interest groups refer to an organization of people with similar policy goals. There are more than 23,000 nonprofit interest groups. Interest groups are essential to policy making because they serve as a vehicle for individual members to find a way voice out their policy demands into one unified voice that in turn influences the making of health policies.

The suppliers of health policies are the following:

* Elected officials / Legislators
* Executive and Bureaucrats ( elected, appointed, career bureaucrats )
* Judiciary

Judges and juries are tasked with interpreting the laws, creating procedures and determine constitutionality of law.

In order to attain cooperation in negotiations the following conditions must be present:

* Practical goals geared towards fair and equitable settlements
* Enough resources for both parties
* Both parties believe in the attainment of their goals
* Goals for both parties to have a harmonious relationship and make the most of the outcomes. The ultimate goal pursued by the suppliers and demanders of health policies is to achieve a mutually acceptable outcome such as tangibles and intangibles.

In the traditional market model, there are few options for health care policy makers because it is largely influenced by consumer demands. The best way to influence the demand would be to change the out-of-pocket price or provide information drive to clients. It was assumed that supply could not be influenced because the suppliers merely cater to the demand.

In reality, however, the supply-side policies have the most influence. Supply-side policy tools include capitation, diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), utilization review, practice guidelines, technology and manpower controls and global budgets. These policies actually are geared towards the suppliers instead of the demanders. Consequently, none of the policies are influenced by competition or the competitive model nor would it likely produce excellent results compared to policies created on demand-based policies. These policies however are seen to have resulted in excellent outcomes in the health care market.

Important care issues in health policy include: a). the advantages of markets over government in achieving efficiency in health care; b). ways to achieve equity in delivery of health and health services and; c). find ways for markets and the government to work together to attain the superior health care system.
Conclusion

The objective of both suppliers and demanders of health policy is for these major players to reach a mutually satisfying and beneficial arrangement. One that enables the party to attain the tangible and intangible rewards they intend to reap. The purpose of this paper is to show the roles of both suppliers and demanders in the formulation of health policies so they can effectively reach their desired ends.