Policy Final

Lobbying expenditures on health issues at the federal level in 2013 were approximately

$500 million.

Having influence in policy markets depends upon possession of combinations of

1. legitimate and reward power 2. expert and referent power.

The Association of Academic Health Centers recommends the nation have an integrated national health workforce policy, including

A. a national health workforce planning body. B. investment in workforce research.

In the United States, health policy is made at which of these levels of government?

All three levels: Federal State Local

Which statement most accurately describes the pluralist and/or elitist perspectives on interest groups?

An elitist perspective holds that a small portion of the population controls the nation's key institutions and most of its wealth.

Proposed legislation could be introduced in which of the following forms?

Bill Joint resolution Simple resolution Concurrent resolution

How does constitutional law compare with common law?

Common law usually creates rights between private parties; the Constitution protects against the exercise of government authority.

The president vetoes a bill that has passed in both the House and Senate. Which of the following could happen next?

Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Which type of policy evaluation involves comparing the relative costs of operating a policy component with the extent to which that policy component met its objectives?

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

What marks the transition from policy formulation to policy implementation in the policymaking process?

Enactment of legislation

A framework is typically more specific than a theory.

False

An interest group formed by healthcare providers and another group formed by consumers would likely have similar health policy objectives.

False

At the operation stage, there is no room left to influence the final outcomes and consequences of policies.

False

Designing in policy-implementing organizations typically only takes place when changes to a policy are made.

False

In any given dispute presented to a court, a court is typically only required to play one of its three core roles.

False

Joint resolutions are the most common way for legislation to emerge.

False

Only the legislative branch of government makes health policy.

False

Policymaking and implementation of a particular policy cannot occur simultaneously.

False

Presidents typically leave establishing the policy agenda strictly to the legislative branch of government.

False

Social factors, such as poverty or discrimination, can and do affect health, but not as much as biological factors such as viruses and carcinogens.

False

State legislatures are suppliers of health policies, but they cannot be demanders.

False

Structurally and operationally, the healthcare market works very much like a perfectly competititve economic market.

False

The health system in any country can be defined fully as the government's total effort in pursuit of health for the citizenry.

False

The power of judicial review is expressly granted in the Constitution.

False

There are legal and operational differences between bills and resolutions.

False

Proposed and final rules are published in which daily publication?

Federal Register

Agenda setting occurs during which phase of policymaking?

Formulation

Which nonpartisan agency is responsible for auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively?

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Which of the following statements about rulemaking is false?

Implementing agencies cannot decide to undertake rulemaking without legislative action.

Which of these statements about interest groups is/are true?

Interest groups are permitted by the US Constitution and Interest groups sometimes use litigation to pursue their policy objectives.

What was the widespread problem that eventually reached unacceptable levels and led to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996?

Job lock for individuals with preexisting health conditions who feared being unable to obtain health insurance if they changed jobs

The end result of the formulation phase of policymaking can be what?

Law and Amendment

Which of the following branches of government can be suppliers of health policies?

Legislative branch Executive branch Judicial branch

Who controls the appointment of chairpersons of congressional committees?

Majority party in each chamber

A committee or subcommittee going through a considered bill line by line and making changes is referred to as a

Markup

Which of the following is not one of the four basic types of legislation?

Negotiated resolution

Which program established by the ACA provides grants for researchers conducting comparative clinical effectiveness research?

PCORI

Which Medicare component is also known as hospital insurance?

Part A

Which is true of a concurrent resolution?

Passage requires approval by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Which of the following statements does not reflect a feature of the policymaking process?

Policymaking occurs in independent phases.

What is the greatest difference between the criteria used by those evaluating private versus public policy solutions?

Sensitivity to politics and the public at large

The policymaking process model presented in this book is most heavily influenced by which theory or framework?

Stages heuristic framework

Which of the following is true about the ACA's role in changing CMS's usual policy implementation responsibilities?

The ACA expanded the agency's role and responsibilities.

Which constitutional amendment states that all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government are reserved for state governments?

The Tenth Amendment

Choose the statement that best describes income as a health determinant:

The barriers to good health faced by low-income Americans can be reduced by sound health policy.

What makes the policymaking process an open system?

The process both affects and is affected by factors in the external environment.

Which political circumstances most facilitated the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010?

The same party in control of the executive branch and both chambers of Congress

At which point do the decisions made in policymaking become final?

There is always the potential to change policies.

Health services research is the multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviors affect access to healthcare, the quality and cost of healthcare, and ultimately our health and well-being.

True

In order for a problem to lead to a policy, there must be a possible solution available.

True

In the United States, each state is a sovereign government unto itself.

True

In the federal rulemaking process, OMB reviews both draft proposed rules and final rules.

True

Individuals, health-related organizations, and interest groups continue to exert influence on policies during the "development" stage of policymaking.

True

Legislation can be drafted by anyone.

True

Policies can take the forms of laws, rules, implementation decisions, and judicial decisions.

True

Policy formulation includes setting the policy agenda and developing legislation.

True

Policymakers in all three branches of government make policy in the form of position-appropriate, or authoritative, decisions.

True

Some bills are complex enough that they may be simultaneously assigned to more than one congressional committee for consideration and debate.

True

The US Constitution leaves Congress significant discretion to determine the shape and structure of the federal judiciary.

True

The relationship between those who formulate policies and those who implement them is symbiotic.

True

When courts vindicate or reject the legal or constitutional rights of parties who come to court alleging a violation of their rights, courts are performing their role as rights protectors or rights limiters.

True

How many years are the terms for members of the House of Representatives and Senate?

Two years for the House, six years for the Senate

The complete compilation of all the United States' laws, which is published every six years, is called the:

US Code

Which of the following is not one of the three core roles of courts in the United States?

Writing new laws in cases where disputed laws have been deemed unconstitutional

A bill is

a piece of proposed legislation.

Policies usually fall within one of two basic categories:

allocative or regulatory.

The demanders of health policies can include

anyone.

Supreme Court justices are

appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Public policies can be defined as

authoritative decisions made within government.

Cases that are decided by the Supreme Court

cannot be appealed.

An "executive communication," which typically takes the form of a letter, can best be described as

communication from the president's cabinet, the head of an agency, or the president to the members of the legislative branch.

When courts decide disputes regarding the extent of authority of a branch of government, they are often considered to be acting like

constitutional referees.

"Healthcare disparities" are best defined as

differences in variables such as access, insurance, coverage, and quality of services received.

The Constitution's supremacy clause has the effect of

ensuring that federal laws preempt state laws regulating the same subject.

Primary responsibility for implementation of public laws rests with which government branch?

executive

The three phases of policymaking are

formulation, implementation, and modification.

Examples of problems that reached unacceptable levels and were addressed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) include

growth in the number of uninsured and cost escalation in Medicare.

Public opinion of the ACA

has been low throughout the course of the policymaking process.

Health policies affect health through an intervening set of variables called

health determinants.

The concept that each branch of government possesses particular strengths and weaknesses relevant to policymaking is referred to as

institutional competence.

Federal judges, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, hold their office for

life tenure, or until they resign, die, or are impeached and convicted by Congress.

As courts decide the cases brought to them, they

may play an important role in constraining and shaping policies relating to health.

In agenda setting, the window of opportunity is created by the optimal interaction of

problems, possible solutions, and political circumstances.

According to one theory (Price, 1978), the incentive for legislators to intervene in problems or issues is greatest when

salience is high and conflict is low.

A policy described as "allocative"

seeks to distribute goods and resources to one group at the expense of others.

Compared to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the United States

spends considerably more on health and healthcare.

A key way that federal courts differ from state courts is that

state courts have general jurisdiction over a wide range of cases.

A "pocket veto" occurs when a president

takes no action on a bill after Congress has adjourned its second session.

If a president refuses to sign a bill into law when Congress is not in session, then

the bill does not become a law.

If the House and Senate fail to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill, then

the bill effectively dies.

The term federalism refers to

the constitutional divisions in authority between the national (federal) government and the state governments.

Though interest groups more often seek to influence the legislative and executive branches, pursuing policy goals in court might be attractive because

the groups may not have the resources to successfully lobby the legislative and executive branches.

In a recent Supreme Court case pertaining to the Affordable Care Act (National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius), the Court ruled that

the individual mandate was constitutional by considering it a tax.

"Police power" is defined as

the power of states to regulate a wide range of areas to protect their citizens.

The term federalism, in the context of United States health policy, refers to

the way in which health policy responsibilities are shared between the federal and state governments.

Environmental health policies are

typically created in response to a build-up of real-world evidence of environmental health hazards

Enacted laws are typically _________, which makes rulemaking _____________.

vague; critical

Decisions made by the courts in the United States

will affect both the private and public sectors.

A proposal that is not enacted by the end of the congressional session in which it was introduced

will die and must be reintroduced during the next session to be considered further.

If a president vetoes a bill, Congress can override the veto

with a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate.