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Evelyn Lupancu

Professor Sokolec

SOWK 201

9 February 2020

Commentary on Policy

The push for health care reform comes not without intense scrutiny and pressure from all

sides, as portrayed in the video entitled “Obama’s Deal”. Viewers are able to obtain an accurate

portrayal of policy making in action, proving that it is almost never smooth sailing. Obama’s first

year in office consisted of trying to push a health care reform bill, with some claiming it was

“not really about health care”, but more “about proving whether we can still solve big problems

in this country”, as noted by White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer (“Obama’s

Deal”). It was Obama’s intent to bring together a wide range of individuals, regardless of

whether or not they carried opposing agendas.

It was interesting to see how the world of social work was able to so effortlessly integrate

with public health. As social workers are adept to helping people meet their needs, this also

involves obtaining health care—an important right that each individual should be given. In order

to implement such policies into action, there are many factors that must be taken into

consideration. Ideally, such goals would be met through the use of a specific framework, as

discussed in “American Social Welfare Policy” which includes: “(1) the historical background of

the policy, (2) a description of the problem(s) that necessitated the policy, (3) a description of the

policy, and (4) the policy analysis”(Karger & Stoesz, 2018, p. 50)”. However, as the sequence of

events in Obama’s fight for health care reform shows us, policy making can be quite

unpredictable.
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Obama was insistent on leading the fight for health care reform, regardless of how many

people advised against it. It was a risky endeavor, as so many administrations before Obama had

attempted to fix health care without success. According to some, attempting to construct a

universal health care system would only lead to hostility towards the Obama administration and

should have been avoided. In order to gain support for his policy, Obama had gathered together

all types of individuals, including those that had previously opposed any sort of health care

reform efforts in the past. Attendees of the health care forum included not only politicians but

those from the pharmaceutical, hospital, and insurance industries. Constructing the new policy

was to be a team effort, and several individuals were on board.

The historical background of the policy, as well as the problems that led to its fruition,

were essential in order to gather support for health care reform. Reform in the area of health care

had always been a difficult issue to navigate, with many failed attempts in the past. The way the

Clinton administration had approached health care reform only led to more neglect of the issues

at hand. Clinton had failed to collaborate with others on the policy, instead bringing matters into

his own hands through a proposal that was supposedly over 1,000 pages long. Easily rejected, it

was clear that enacting such policies could not be achieved while keeping others in the dark.

Obama was aware of Clinton’s faults. He knew he could not create a new policy without

collaborating with Congress throughout the entire process.

Obama was keen on developing relationships with those that he knew would support his

cause. He turned to Max Baucus—a conservative Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance

Committee—who Obama had hoped could bring moderate Republicans on board with his policy.

However, public dissent was a common theme throughout the policy making process. Several
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activists and lobbyists made it a point to outwardly express their disapproval, commonly

interrupting the process.

In order to gain support, it was necessary for the Obama administration to actively inform

the public of their decisions and plans for health care reform. Obama spoke of expanding health

care universally and cutting drug costs, among other goals. However, there were many setbacks

that caused Obama to lose favor, including the proposal of new legislation that would prevent

radical drug cost cuts. It proved difficult for Obama to please both sides, as Republican

representatives were frequently opposed to components of the new policies, even though he had

hoped for a bipartisan bill. The American Health Insurance Plans’ decision to release a report

stating the new reform would greatly increase premiums proved it was not only the public that

disagreed with the policy.

Clearly, policy making has its ups and downs. Time was running out for Obama to pass a

new health care reform bill, and it was proving difficult for both parties to come to an agreement.

While the Senate was on board with the bill, the House was widely against it. Obama knew it

was crucial to gain support of the House in order for his year-long agenda to be proven a success.

Obama then decides to take matters into his own hands. Formulating a new plan, he takes on the

responsibility of becoming a personal advocate of the policy. He challenges both parties to

devise better plans if they believed any aspect would fail. In March of 2010, the new health care

reform bill successfully passes through the House. It is only through the persistent efforts of a

passionate policy maker such as Obama that such a bill is enacted. Governmental policy making

consists of a joint effort between several individuals, corporations, and parties that share the

common goal of providing the best set of outcomes for the public, regardless of conflicting

personal views.
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References

Karger, H. J., & Stoesz, D. (2018). American social welfare policy: a pluralist approach. NY,

NY: Pearson.

“Obama's Deal.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/obamasdeal/.