The Policy Process: Formulation, Legislation and Implementation
HCS/455
June 15, 2015

The Policy Process: Formulation, Legislation and Implementation
Veteran’s health care plans “cost-effective” rates is an endless controversy. It is justified that veteran health care needs to improve at a consistent rate in order to maintain the health needs old and new veterans. Even with the help of the government assisting Veterans Affairs facilities, there are times when this help is just not enough. Too many of our veterans go without the health care they need or not enough care and for the risk they took to protect our nation, they deserve and need countless of health care services. Our veterans both men and women require extensive medical needs from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) to prosthetics, physical therapy and much more. In today’s society PTSD has affected countless of veterans and many end up taking their lives because of lack of treatment, minimal resources at nearby VA facility or appointments are too far away and not enough as it should be. For every new policy in health care or any other organization it has to be assessed first in order to guarantee a successful implementation process. There are three phases to enact a new policy such as the formulation stage followed by the legislation stage and finally the implementation stage (Shi, 2014). The objective of this policy is to improve the health care quality and availability for our United States Veterans.
The Formulation Stage
For decades millions of military men and women have been the forefront of our nation fighting wars and being left behind or forgotten. Our veterans need constant care when they return home for various health care concerns ranging from a yearly physical exam, psychotherapy, surgeries or other complex procedures, physical therapy, prosthetics, prescription medications and even family therapy. Therefore, creating a successful policy that will assist veterans in obtaining the health care they so deserve and need, should be done with precise and formulated actions so that the policy is implemented accurately. In the formulation stage key health concerns should be displayed and resolutions need to be prepared accordingly. Creating a new policy is often authorized by major health issues in a specific group of people, which requires more than one solution provided the health concerns are more than one within the formulation stage. The formulation process can be rather complicated demanding a resolution prior to the policy being approved. Although not every veteran that has been to war will suffer from PTSD but they will suffer from other combat-related injuries or health issues that require immediate attention and extensive health care services. The objective of the formulation stage is to create an intricate health care policy by taking critical decisions, formulating and advocating laws that would benefit U.S. veterans and their families in order to refrain from having more health care issues expanding. According to the National Institute of Health, “war veterans brought PTSD to public attention but can also be found among survivors of natural disasters, victims or crime and many others who have experienced a traumatic event” ("PTSD: A Growing Epidemic," 2009, para. 1). Although some of the major health concerns for veterans are PTSD they do suffer from other war related injuries that include trauma from an explosion, gunshot wound, etc. The accomplishment of new policies need to be in place so that veterans who put their lives on the line for our nation can have the best access to health care and unlimited treatments as needed to live as normal a life as possible. When the new veteran’s policy is created then the bill needs to be passed on to the legislative stage.
The Legislative Stage
The legislative stage is a productive means of revising a health policy for veterans. Before presenting the proposed policy to legislators, an outlined copy