Critique of Health Resource Allocation: Policy and Funding Review

This report offers a critical analysis of health resource allocation, focusing on the challenges faced by state and local governments due to cutbacks in federal aid and growing responsibilities. The author critiques the current system, highlighting overlapping boundaries between government entities and the need for clear directives regarding resource allocation, particularly in areas like Medicaid and mental health. The report emphasizes the importance of both central and sub-national government involvement in addressing these issues and proposes solutions such as demarcating jurisdictional boundaries and developing alternative revenue streams to ensure adequate funding for essential services, including health. The author references various sources to support the analysis of the current state of health resource allocation and the need for improvements in policy and implementation.

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Critique of Health Resource Allocation
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Critique of Health Resource Allocation
There have been cutbacks in the federal aid the sub-national categories of government,
which came about primarily because of the taxpayer revolt that began in and later spread to the
other parts of the country. The local governments are experiencing a situation in which they have
to reduce their resources. Nonetheless, spending on health remains a great responsibility for the
state as well as the local governments. About 16 percent of state resources are spent on health,
which is slightly higher than the share of the federal budget that is reserved for health. It is
imperative to note that even with the growth in the economy as a whole, the resources that the
governments have limited amounts for its total budgets with responsibilities also growing. The
author believes that the issues surround resource allocations in health are one that requires both
the funding from the central government and the sub-national governments. All these elements of
government should be actively involved in solving the contemporary issues from Medicaid,
mental health, disease control, amongst others (Altman & Morgan, 1983).
The open specialists who are the object of this thought face two far-reaching troubles.
The first is the methods by which to alter, briefly, to government decreases and loads of the
current economy. In the present money related environment, what choices and tradeoffs should
state and close by governments make in the prosperity domain? The ensuing test incorporates the
prolonged stretch activity of state and neighborhood government in prosperity. The pivotal
request is whether state and neighborhood governments should arrange what they do in the
human administration's field (Altman & Morgan, 1983). Precisely, should more resources be
placed assets into individual clinical thought or when all is said in done prosperity, and what
express endeavors should be made in each zone? (Altman & Morgan, 1983). The articles that
follow address these troubles similarly as these fundamental concerns. As an establishment, at

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this moment, portray were things by and by stay regarding the state and close by work in
prosperity.
I think that with the current state, things have changed drastically from the past decade.
However, the issues are still present, and the methodology that the author offers doesn’t hold
water. It is self-evident that the unified efforts of both the state government and the local
authorities need to combine efforts to ensure the smooth running of the health sector (Manning &
Vladeck, 1983). It is imperative to note that there are no clear directives as to which aspect of the
health sector each is to handle. The running of operations of the sector has overlapping
boundaries (Rogers & Schlossman, 1990). The solution to this would be to set clear cut
boundaries and jurisdiction of the various authorities that are in play. The role of the central
government clearly demarcated such that in the event of issues, there is a direct path to an
appropriate response to the matter. Also, the government should come up with other means of
raising enough resources for its growing range of responsibilities so that all the critical aspects of
planning and implementation (Stinnett & Paltiel, 1996). Other factors influence government
budgeting, such as emergencies and natural disasters. However, with a higher amount of
revenue, it is possible to allocate the required resources to essential services such as health.

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References
Altman, D. E., & Morgan, D. H. (1983). The role of state and local government in health. Health
Affairs, 2(4), 7-31.
Manning, B., & Vladeck, B. C. (1983). The Role of State and Local Government in
Health. Health Affairs, 2(4), 134-140.
Rogers, B. L., & Schlossman, N. P. (Eds.). (1990). Intra-household Resource Allocation: Issues
and Methods for Development Policy and Planning: Papers Prepared for the Workshop
on Methods of Measuring Intra-household Resource Allocation, Gloucester,
Massachusetts, USA, October 1983 (Vol. 15). United Nations University Press.
Stinnett, A. A., & Paltiel, A. D. (1996). Mathematical programming for the efficient allocation of
health care resources. Journal of Health Economics, 15(5), 641-653.