Regardless of political affiliation, every citizen has a stake in healthcare policy decisions. Hence, it is little wonder why healthcare items become such high-profile components of presidential agendas. It is also little wonder why they become such hotly debated agenda items.

Consider a topic that rises to the presidential level. How did each of the presidents (Trump, Obama, and Bush) handle the problem? What would you do differently?

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and reflect on the importance of agenda setting.
• Consider how federal agendas promote healthcare issues and how these healthcare issues become agenda priorities.

 

Opioid crisis presents one of the main critical healthcare agenda in the United States to warrant the presidential attention. There is a controversy that has drawn tremendous public interest ever since the advent of heroin and painkiller. The issue has also met a bipartisan consensus among Americans, both government officials as well as civilians (Christie et al., 2017). Its main impact and journey to resolutions follows the rapid death rates opioid crisis caused on Americans. Regardless of the nature of its consequences, different presidential administrations have adopted separate methods to address the issue.

Step-by-step explanation

President Trump on Opioid Crisis

• Though he showed equal vigor in the battle against Opioid use the scale and effect of the epidemic or crisis is primarily drawn by President Trump on public sentiment in different countries. One of the prominent figures to lobby on his behalf stated most of the affected areas were the states where Trump supporters came from (Jaffe, 2017). The administration therefore emphasized the need for better interventions in the treatment of dependency. Trump took to establish a mechanism to classify the number of patients to treat that are addicted, so that the advantages and impacts of the health measures can be derived collectively.

President Obama and Opioid Crisis

• Following a legislative process, the Obama administration considered funding major programs to address the crisis. The step appears to affirm the government's consideration of important health conditions in the direct way that prevention services are properly funded. Regardless of the first major legislation,  his administration has also expressed the need for background information on the origins of the crisis (Christie et al., 2017). They went ahead, through relevant agencies to outline the vision that comprehensively intended to fix and stop the crisis.

President Bush and Opioid Crisis

• With regard to opioid crisis, the Bush administration called upon political compliance to track cross-border cases of heroin trafficking (Christie et al., 2017). This move provided a way to minimize the increased drug exposure, since the rapid trade has led Americans to the crisis increasingly. Hence, stringent immigration policies, especially across the Mexican borders prompted the fight against the opioid crisis in America.