Policy Making Process

Policy Making Process

Introduction

According to Myers et al (2017), the federal budget is the amount of money that is set aside by the federal government for spending in a certain fiscal year. The government has to make estimates of revenue and spending for each fiscal year as a way of determining the prevailing economic conditions of the state. The revenue that is used by the government for meeting this budget is usually obtained from taxes. Such taxes are derived from family incomes, imports and business profits (Joyce et al, 2016). The U.S federal budget is that amount of spending and revenue for its government in the next fiscal year. It is this amount that is used to finance various expenses within the federal government. The HHS (Health and Human Service) on the other hand is the U.S government department that has control over public health, civil rights and welfare (Garrett, 2018).  Since this is the highest U.S government with such jurisdiction, the federal government has to set a budget that can fully finance the activities of the HHS. The purpose of this essay is to describe the federal budget process and its impact on the strategic goal of the HHS.

The federal budget process

• The president submits a request for the budget

This is usually the initial step in the federal budget process. The federal law of the U.S government requires the president to submit a request of the budget within the first week of February every year (Joyce et al, 2016). This is the fiscal year that begins on 1st October. This budget from the president is important since it gives a clear reflection of the important government agencies. It also gives the priorities of the government for the coming fiscal year (Garrett, 2018).

• Passing of the budget resolution by the House and the Senate.

After the President submits his request, the Budget and Senate committee, as well as the House committee, writes the budget resolution (Myers et al, 2017). This is the resolution that sets the overall spending limits for all government agencies. After the resolutions are passed, any differences are ironed out so as to act as a guiding tool for the rest of the budget.

• Markup of the appropriations bills by the House and Senate committees

During this stage, the both the House and the Senate committees determine the funding levels for all the discretionary programs (McGillen et al, 2017).  To do this, each committee is required to write an appropriation bill for the programs under the jurisdiction of the two Houses. Once the proposed bill passes the subcommittees, it proceeds to the Full Appropriation committee where it reviews it. After this, the bill proceeds to the full house or Senate or further consideration (Joyce et al, 2016).

• Voting on Appropriation Bills to reconcile any differences

(Stoody & Casavale, (2017) says that this is done by the House and the Senate after debating on it. After the House and the Senate pass their versions of the bill, a certain committee known as the conference committee holds a meeting to resolve any differences that come from the House and the Senate (Garrett, 2018. This committee then produces the final version of the bill that is voted again by the two bodies. After it passes both the House and the Senate, the appropriations are taken back to the president for signature.

• Presidential assent and then the Budget becomes a Law

The president is required to sign each of the appropriation bills after it has passed in the Congress. After the presidential signature, the bill becomes a law. This is after all the 12 bills have been signed (McGillen et al, 2017).

Impact of the recent budget proposals to the strategic goals of the HHS

The recent US federal budget proposals have to put into consideration, the impact and requirements of the U.S HHS. This is because this is the highest U.S body that has jurisdiction over the human health. Its financing comes from the government through the federal budget (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). In the current U.S fiscal year, the federal budget has proposed putting the American Health first.  The Presidents Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 supports the mission of the HHS department by making strategic investments aimed at protecting the health of the Americans (Stoody & Casavale, 2017).

The federal budget proposes to reform the American Healthcare system.  The American health cares have been faced with many turbulences which the federal budget has placed at the top. There is a need to provide quality Medicare to the U.S citizens (Joyce et al, 2016). Again, the federal budget proposes to lower the prices drugs so that their availability can increase in the market. One of the major strategic objectives of the HHS is to protect the health and well-being of the Americans and thus the federal budget aims at meeting this proposal (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2017).

According to (Stoody & Casavale, 2017), the recent U.S budget proposal aims at supporting the strategic goal of the HHS of fighting the Opioid crisis. This is a major problem that is affecting many Americans and thus it will get a heightened attention in 2018. The HHS requires the U.S Food and Drug Administration to put enough pressure on doctors to stop them from giving too many prescriptions on opioid medications. The budget allocation should thus ensure that this has been put into consideration so as roto provide hope to the Americans.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are too many needs that have to be addressed by the HHS and which requires funds from the government. However, the sources of the government budget, which includes taxes cannot meet all these and if any pressure is put on the same, then the federal government will realize a deficit budget. It is therefore for the government to look for other means of funding from the internal agencies so as to avoid straining the budget. For example, there the CHIP funding will address the U.S Children Health Insurance program that has never been readjusted to meet the required standards. The U.S federal government thus has the mandate of enabling the Department of Health and Human Services to achieve its strategic mission.

References

Garrett, E. (2018). Rethinking the Structures of Decision-making in the Federal Budget    Process. Harv. J. on             Legis., 35, 387.

Joyce, Philip G., and Robert D. Reischauer. “Deficit Budgeting: The Federal Budget Process and             Budget Reform.” Harv. J. on Legis. 29 (2016): 429.

McGillen, J. B., Sharp, A., Honermann, B., Millett, G., Collins, C., & Hallett, T. B. (2017).           Consequences of a changing US strategy in the global HIV investment landscape. AIDS          (London, England), 31(18), F19.

Myers, R. L., Rumburg, C. B., & Johnson, D. A. (2017). The Federal Budget Process. Rangelands,          247-250.

Stoody, E. E., & Casavale, K. O. (2017). Making the dietary guidelines for Americans “for           Americans”: The critical role of data analyses. Journal of Food Composition and        Analysis, 64, 138-142.

US Department of Health and Human Services. (2017). Dietary guidelines for Americans 2015-   2020. Skyhorse Publishing Inc…