Question

Health care policy development in the United States has been compared to a play with actors or a three-ringed circus. Some argue that the Constitution hinders this process with the checks and balances system of government. Others believe that the Constitution was set-up so that a system of checks and balances were in place to protect the people.  Discuss an event where checks and balances and other Constitutional provisions have been set-up to help or hinder the health care policies in this country. Describe the situations, the actors, what transpired, and your opinion of the event.

Answer 1

Checks and balances is a system for making sure that one department does not exceed its bounds, or for guarding against fraud and errors. In the U.S. government, the system of checks and balances is set to be a sentry over the separation of powers, balancing the separate branches of government. In a system of checks and balances, the authority to take an action, or make a decision, rests with one department, while the responsibility to verify the decision or action rests with another. To explore this concept, consider the following checks and balances definition

A system in which various divisions of an organization have powers that affect or control other divisions, so that no division becomes too powerful, or to minimize error.

Examples of Checks and Balances :-

The President may veto a law passed by Congress. Congress may then override the veto if a minimum of two-thirds of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate vote to do so. This system takes longer, but prevents either Congress or the President from having absolute power in any decisions or in lawmaking.

Supreme Court may declare a law passed by Congress unconstitutional. Because judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President, the power here is balanced between all three branches.