As is stipulated by the political theory of pluralism, political power in society ought not to be a preserve of a small portion of the population, be they the elites or influential political figures, but rather, it should be distributed amongst the various stakeholders.
Consequently, the Obama Administration offers a direct cross between the hitherto warring extremes in approach to health care, whereby the American people were required to either allow the Insurance companies to operate largely unchecked as they endeavored to provide cover to those signed up, or on the other hand, the people had the option of being subjected to payment of hefty taxes so as to aid in financing the government-directed health initiatives – talk of being caught in between a rock and a hard place!
It is thus in this light that the Obama Administration has taken deliberate efforts to draft a proposal seeking to not only make insurance companies accountable for their policies and actions, but also facilitate the freedom of a patient to choose the doctor and/ or type of medical attention that (s)/he desires to be accorded. This plan also goes a step further and outlines measures to cement coverage of employers as pertains to health cover . Thus, in the long run, it is hoped that health care will become accessible to all, and be well within economic-feasibility of all and sundry (Collins, 2008). Interest groups and institutions;
At a glance, those directly having a stake in the health care matters include those partisan to the same, inclusive of individuals themselves, business coalitions, interest groups or even the trade unions representative of particular multitudes. These include; • The American Lung Association, which advocates for the banning of smoking in federal places of work, an end to which it has enrolled President Obama. • The Sierra Club, and the AFL-CIO, both organizations which have petitioned the Obama administration to champion reforms in the Health care system, if only to chart the way forth towards resuscitating the ailing economy.
• Divided we fail, a coalition headlined by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), composed of the Service Employees International Union (which represents at least a million health workers), the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Business Roundtable, seeks to push for the raising of the priority level accorded to health issues and reforms, as well as the necessary changes in the financial security arena, all within the president’s (Obama’s) first 100 days in Office.
• Health Care for America Now, an organization that is bent on soliciting the Congress, in liaison with the entire Obama administration, to enact the necessary reforms in the Health Care sector, along with other weighty, topical issues. • The American Medical Association, which had opposed former President Bill Clinton’s Healthcare reforms back in 1993, but are now in favor of Universal healthcare.