we will examine the formulation and modification stages of health policy and learn how to craft a formal business e-mail.

The United States has no public or private program or combination of programs designed to assume all residents access to health care services or to protect all residents from the economic burdens of ill health. America does have a long and rich history of central, state, and local government involvement in health care and health policy. At the federal level there is the U.S. Public Health Service, which is almost two hundred years old, the Pure Food, and Drug Act, passed in 1906, the National Institute of Health reorganized in 1930, the Medicaid and Medicare amendments to the Social Security Act enacted and signed into law in 1965 (which states that to be eligible for Medicare one needs to have a job before).

These and other specific pieces of legislation and regulatory miratives manifest a public concern with the funding and provision of health care services the training of health care professionals, the underwriting of biomedical research, as well as inspecting, testing, and other activities designed to assure safety and quality. State and local initiatives have mirrored the federal government's involvement with the healthcare sector. Health policy will continue to be depicted at all levels of government's health issues, and health policies will remain a dominant item on the public sector agenda.

The government is expected to remain involved with health care even though the health industry is undergoing rapid change as health care is reconstructed with calls for a decline in government regulatory efforts accompanied by greater emphasis on private sector involvement. Why, because there is more to the answer than the simple response that large bureaucratic institutions seldom turn existing responsibilities to others, or let existing programs expire. More likely is the level of intimacy between the public policy process and the demands of the people.

The American health enterprise touches every resident and does so in ways that extend far beyond the financial considerations that have been the focus of attention. Medical care has long been considered a necessity, not only items necessary for life itself, but others that custom and common decency require to be available to all.

Medical care is special because we (the public) are offended when we see unnecessary pain, suffering, and early death that could have been prevented but for the inability to pay, lack of access, or discriminatory behavior. The health policy process is the means to the end.

To say that healthcare in America is changing is to grossly understate the revolution that has overtaken the delivery, financing, and regulation of American healthcare services. Pressures from employers, and citizens, are expected to continue. In the quest for change of security, simplicity, savings, and quality Congress grapples with developing legislation, which can pass both houses.

How to Correctly Construct a Business Email

• Use a short but detailed subject line.
• Open with a salutation.
• Write a brief message
• Use a closing
• Make sure the information in your signature block is correct

Assume that you have been recently hired as a Healthcare Policy Research Manager at Sen. John Brown, the United States Senator for your State. The Senator asked you to conduct brief research of the historical events leading to the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid legislation, and based on your research and knowledge of these programs, prepare an e-mail that will include two parts. In the first paragraph, provide an overview of why the United States forwent attempts to achieve universal health insurance in favor of focusing on insurance for the elderly and the poor. In the second paragraph, consider the financial and economic impact of the Medicare program and provide a recommendation with supporting rationale to Sen. Brown on whether to support a proposal to modify health policy and lower Medicare age eligibility to 50 years old.

Support the initial posting with at least 3 references of credible or peer-reviewed sources