Discuss the role of interest group in the political circumstances that affect health policy agenda setting.

Canadian-style single-payer (e .g , government ) approach , which would radically alter the role of government , by dramatically increasing it , and insurance companies , by virtually eliminating them , but which would be quite supportive of traditional medical practice styles (e .g , fee-for-service reimbursement for solo practitioners ) and consumer prerogatives (e .g , choice of provider

The most remarkable feature of this renewal of the perennial search for comprehensive health care reform - the powerful role the managed competition approach , which had been nurtured in the 1970s and 1980s has played in establishing the center or mainstream

of the debate . Many interest groups have gravitated toward some version of the managed competition approach . Groups representing the interests of the new financing and delivery alternatives , HMOs and PPOs , saw it as generally supportive of what has already taken place in the marketplace . Many physician groups were wary of its implications for their practice styles and incomes . From the practical perspective , the health care reform debate during the 1990s , which has been going on over a number of years reveals the complex dynamics of how interest groups can impact health policies and political decision making in this area

In contemporary context of political decision making , the interest groups spend enormous financial resources to support or defeat ballot initiatives affecting healthcare . For instance , American Hospital Association represents the interests of health care providers on the medical malpractice issues . Simultaneously , other interest groups urge voters to make referendums on everything from increasing cigarette taxes to fund healthcare programs to supporting stem-cell research

The examples of how interest groups affect health related politics are numerous . For instance , in 2003 , the Florida Hospital Association successfully lobbied to pass a tort reform bill , subsequently singed by Gov . Jeb Bush , which imposed a 500 ,000 cap on conomic , or punitive damages . In 2004 , the...