Advanced Studies in Healthcare America Research Paper 2022

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Student’s Name
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Advanced Studies in Healthcare
Introduction
Interest groups are essential in enhancing healthcare in the U.S. However, they have also
demonstrated that they can be a significant stumbling block when it comes to the implementation
of certain policies. Interest groups are made up of people who have a common goal by
influencing political processes. Other names used to describe interest groups are factions,
pressure groups, organized interests, or special interests. Traditionally, interest groups were
defined by their passion and fight for the rights of the citizens. Apparently, these groups have
vested political interests they want to serve as they execute their mandates. This paper surveys
the missions and goals of two interest groups in the U.S. and analyzes their critical concerns
concerning their interests. It also recommends possible strategies to address their needs as well
as transition their concerns into healthcare systems in a manner that reduces medical costs and
improves medical access to the citizens of the United States of America.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is an example of an interest group in the
category of hospital owners and administrators. The mission of the American Hospital
Association is “To advance the health of individuals and communities. The AHA leads,
represents and serves hospitals, health systems, and other related organizations that are

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accountable to the community and committed to health improvement “(Vieira et al. 1). Their
primary goal is to have a healthy community with its entire people attaining their health
potentials. To fulfill their mandate and achieve the objective, AHA's strategic plan comprises of
four main deliverables. The first one is advancing Health in America through Access: access to
affordable, equitable health, behavioral, and social services (Bourret et al. 2). They are also
interested in advancing Health through Health with their focus on holistic well-being as they
partner with community resources. AHA also seeks to achieve its objectives through innovation.
In this objective, they look into the possibility of enhancing care systems driven by technology,
teams, data, and innovation. Lastly, AHA desires to increase the affordability of healthcare
through different initiatives that provide the best care that enhances the value of life.
On the other hand, health insurance companies have the same vested interests in
healthcare. One of the health insurance companies is the National Committee to Preserve Social
Security and Medicare (NCPSSM). Primarily, this body advocate for the federal programs of
Social Security and Medicare as well as all Americans seeking productive and healthy retirement
schemes (Padula et al. 399; Pokorski, Robert and Berg 2). The mission of NCPSSM is “to
protect, preserve, promote, and ensure the financial security, health, and well-being of current
and future generation of maturing Americans. To achieve its primary objective, NCPSSM is
involved in advocacy programs and campaigns aimed at creating awareness to the public about
their rights when it comes to retirement schemes and Medicare. According to Marmor and
Theodore (3), NCPSSM focuses on four areas namely: social security where it collects opinions
and analyses the facts on social security; Medicare, in which they collect papers and opinions on
topics relating to Health Care Reform, means testing and Trustee Reports; Medicaid dealing with
the collection of opinions and thoughts on vital headlines like debt limits and dual-eligible; and

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Older Americans program that supports various community-based initiatives aimed at improving
the welfare of older Americans (Dumanovsky and Tamara 13)
Functions of Interest Groups
Interest groups deploy different mechanisms to remain relevant in our complicated
healthcare system. They use methods such as mobilization, lobbying, litigation, shaping public
opinion, influencing the election, and direct action to get their motives accomplished.
Lobbying
Lobbying is the direct influence one can have on officials holding public offices to
influence their decisions and legislations ultimately. According to Dziadzko and Mikhail,
lobbying is “the political management of information” since it educates, shapes opinions, and
avails studies, data, and analysis (5). Lobbyists give a helping hand in the drafting and revision
of bills. In the end, they end up getting hired by the state, thus strengthening their position of
influence. Health insurance and hospital owners and administrators have proved that they can
lobby enough, according to Dziadzko and Mikhail (4).
Grassroots Mobilization
This approach involves creating direct influence to the officials through constituency
contact. Grassroots mobilization is a simplified approach used by interest groups as they find it
easy to convince them of their well-coated antics. For instance, the American Hospital
Association (AHA) can quickly popularize their manifesto of enhancing care systems driven by
technology, teams, data, and innovation in the grassroots where people desperately need
technology to be applied in the provision of faster and better healthcare services (Angel and