Public opinion is the accumulation of people’s attitudes, views, and sentiments. These opinions are normally swayed by public associations and political media. The percentage of the population with specific preferences and views can be established by assessing these opinions at a personal or group level. However, it has been noted that public opinions positively and negatively influence policy depending on the public view about the policy. Numerous governments implement the use of public opinions to guide their public information and further assist in developing government policies.
In current politics, public opinion seems to have a huge influence and plays a significant role not only on health care policy but also on almost all policy. It has been noted that most Americans want to be heard and further want their elected leaders to implement policies that benefit them most. In the past 4 years, more than 20 million Americans enrolled in the health insurance and the already insured received new protections. However, in the past few months, the president of America, Donald Trump made some efforts to dismantle Obamacare. Firstly, he signed an executive order that allowed health insurers to sell cheap and loosely regulated plans outside the market places.
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Based on Trump executive order, numerous conservatives argue that allowing health insurers to sell cheap plans could turn the health insurance product for emergencies. On the other hand, the progressive group claims that Trump’s plans have few benefits and will not cover Americans when they need it most. Doing away with Obamacare will leave more than 20 million without health insurance. The sick, women, older Americans and the poor will be affected adversely by the president’s move. Trump’s prospect sparked public uproar and received only 20 percent of public approval which made the Republicans suffer an embarrassing failure. About 60 percent of people disagree with Trump prospects. This indicates that public opinion has played a vital role in influencing some health policies positively.
Conclusively, public opinions are significant in influencing policy-making decisions and therefore the government to be responsive to the views of the public. Public views have a steady influence across different areas and it is, therefore, the responsibility of the government to include them in decision making.
References
Glenza, E. (2017). Dismantling Obamacare: what has Trump done and who will it affect. The Guardian .
Lippmann, W. (2017). Public opinion . Routledge.
Oberlander, J. (2017). The end of Obamacare. New England Journal of Medicine , 376 (1), 1-3.
