Health politics and policy: survey of U.S. health administration courses

In summary, the vast majority of graduate health administration programs in this country offer a course in health politics and policy. Most of these courses are conducted as a seminar involving class discussions, guest speakers, and student projects. Aside from these generalizations, there is little consensus regarding such matters as course content, objectives, textbooks, and readings. The findings of this survey indicate a crying need in health administration education for a basic textbook or collection of readings on health policy and politics. Such a text should cover the following: 1. Basic information on United States politics and government: our constitutional framework; the presidency; the legislative process; the role of the judiciary; state and local governments; etc. 2. Late 20th century United States political culture: why Americans hate politics and distrust politicians; government as "part of the problem"; the role of the media; the role of lobbyists; campaign financing; increased us of initiatives and referenda; etc. 3. Comparisons of the United States health care system to systems in other countries: Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, etc. 4. Case studies on traditional health policy issues: Hill-Burton, planning, cost versus access, risk segmentation, rationing, health ethics, etc. 5. Bibliography of suggested readings. A textbook or anthology of this type would provide a solid foundation for a health policy course. Instructors could then add discussion of current events, guest speakers' presentations, and selected readings on emerging issues such as health care reform. In this way the course could be grounded in sound political science theory while also meeting the students' needs for practical insights into health policy issues of the day and their own role as health care executives in influencing the outcome of those policy debates.