Caryn Calabio PUA 405, 1001 Spring 2016 March 11, 2016 Fredric Jackson
Department Analysis Assignment III: Responsiveness and Competence A major issue in the Department of Health and Human Services is the issue of health care. It is a long disputed issue with several topics of discussion and debate. The Department provides two major health care programs, Medicare and Medicaid. These two programs are caused for reform and add to the overall health care problem the nation faces on a day to day basis. The current health care in America struggles to provide adequate services to all people without extreme use of the federal budget and use of resources. There are two basic standards for bureaucracy, responsiveness to public need and demand …show more content…
There are three criteria for reliability: knowledge, consistency, and predictability. Knowledge refers to experience and basic knowledge of how to address issues and complete tasks. Consistency refers to responding to case to case in the same manner (rigidity). Predictability refers the reputation set by consistency that a response from the bureaucracy will remain the same, case after case. It is to say that citizens should know and expect that a case will be decided in a specified way due to standard operating procedures. This part of competency interferes with the department’s ability to be flexible. In matters of Medicare and Medicaid, citizens (with low income, the elderly, or disabled) hope to be seen as individual cases as special cases where their situation is considered and not just scanned through as standard procedure. In special cases, citizens ask for flexibility for their situation and for reconsiderations. Both programs do that; the federal government pays state governments a specific percentage varying on the state, and then the state administers the program it sees fit for its region. But competency requires a certain amount of reliability, a continuance of routine that does not allow the department or programs to veer from standard procedure. As mentioned before, Medicare and Medicaid are often called to reform and change, therefore, in this sense, the program is not entirely consistent or reliable. Points of Tension The conflict and ongoing debate about health care lies in many aspects. There is a large dissatisfaction with the American Health care system, especially those provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. For Medicare and Medicaid, the argument is in who gets covered, how they are covered, who pays, and whether the programs should even exist. Medicare accommodates to the elderly, to individuals over 65 regardless of income. There has been debate and call