Public opinion can control how policy is implemented for anything that is political in the United States government. How policy is implemented also controls dollar allocation. Because the United States is a democracy, the people have the ability to influence the government. Policy implementation is the reforms or acts the government put forth. Dollar allocation can be seen as where the money the government collects goes and how it is spent. Two main issues on the nation agenda today include health care and Social Security.
Healthcare has been an important issue throughout the decades. During the great depression, poverty was at an all time low and the people of the US required the assistance of the federal government. One of many programs that were made included a Committee on Economic Security. The committee recommended compulsory national health insurance but it didn't exactly get far. But during Johnson's Great Society legislation Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid. The public does not want to pay a lot for healthcare, so as a result of that, the traditional or fee for service method is gradually being replaced by health maintenance organizations (HMOs). When people with some form of health insurance go to the doctor or a hospital their costs are covered by insurance. These traditional arrangements meant that patients could choose doctors who billed insurance companies for their services. HMOs have people or their employers to pay a set amount in advance, and the HMO provides health care and covers hospital costs. The same public-want for lower health care costs and the ability to choose whichever doctor without prior insurance company approval resulted in medical savings accounts. These savings accounts allow individuals to make tax deductible contributions to a special medical savings account to be accumulated from year to year to pay for medical expenses. Some people want the national government to impose an overall expenditure cap on health care that applies not only to public expenditures but to private ones as well because the cost of providing health care each year consumes a larger and larger share of our GDP.
