Unraveling the Advantages of Federalism through Health Insurance Reform

Federalism is a legal and political concept suggesting that law is best made in a twofold relationship: centrally and locally with the current Health insurance and Health care reform debate, a perfect example of the process. Operative in many nations around the world under many different guises, federalism is centered on the principle that locality is key to effective governance. It holds that by making laws at a local level, the legislators can take advantage of local knowledge and opinion, whilst also lightening the load centrally for governance on the wider ranging issues.

This is not only bureaucratically significant, but also politically in the sense that those in power through the majority of local areas will assume power overall, creating fairer representation. Ultimately, in theory, federalism satisfies the will of the people more accurately than a purely central system of governance. In this article, we will discuss the main advantages of federalism as a legal order, using the current Health Insurance and Health care reform debates as an example of the process. We’ll also discuss the main reasons for Federalism growing popularity and strength across the world.

The first argument put forward for a federalist legal order is that a central government is too cumbersome when it comes to legislating over region specific matters. The series of town hall style debates on Health insurance and health care reform, that are occurring across the US, typifies this process. This debate, opens an opportunity for consensus based reform, which can then be implemented by the Federal government. In a second example, the UK government in London was often required to legislate on agricultural and fisheries matters that related to issues over 1,000 miles away in the North of Scotland. In this scenario, it would be unrealistic to expect the central government to have the requisite local knowledge and understanding required to make an effective decision for the prosperity of the region. In this sense, it is argued that a federalist legal order is more desirable, on the basis of making ’small time’ decisions that affect specific localities with which it is acquainted. This has proven to be one of the strongest features of the federalist system, which largely relates to local people and their specific needs, and engages in political and legal decision making ‘closer to home’.

Another very strong argument in favor of federalism is the fairer representation afforded by local and regional government. As an example, in the US reserved powers are those that have been reserved specifically for the states or are of a traditionally state scope. These consist primarily of police powers, such as providing fire and police protection, determining health regulations, licensing, zoning and education. More broadly speaking in the UK there is a left wing political party (Labour) and a right wing political party (Conservative) – much the same way as the Democrats and Republican parties operate in the US. In the UK, the Conservative party have a strong hold over the South East of England, which makes up a sizeable proportion of the population although covers limited geography. Labour have a traditional stronghold in Scotland which accounts for one third of the land mass but only one tenth of the population. In this sense, federalism would provide a fairer system of representation by allowing regional governance that could account more easily for local tastes and opinions and provide an altogether more representative picture of the nations political favor.

On top of these reasons, federalism lightens the load as respects central parliamentary time, freeing up national level politicians to consider more strategic rather than operational matters. This frees up resources and streamlines the process overall, although it does bring with it the complexities of an additional layer of authority and therefore raises issues for individuals and small business alike. However, provided the legal system is well structured and defined in a codified form, federalism can make for more efficient governance and an overall fairer political and legal system, as well as bringing a host of other governmental and internal benefits to the table. A very well presented report entitled “Early Experience With ‘New Federalism’ In Health Insurance” published by the The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc., provides a candid look at just how State and Federal legislation transformed health insurance regulation in the US. The implementation created small business opportunities within local and state boundaries, a positive outcome of this type of approach to governance.

Federalism has grown in popularity over the last century or so, and this is largely down to its particular successes throughout the world. Much the creation of academic thinking and commentary, federalism brings about a system of governance that keeps the people happy, promotes local affairs, and leads to significantly more favorable governance nationwide. For these reasons, it is quickly becoming the favored method of government worldwide, and has been adopted in centralist countries and larger regions alike to promote and maintain the diversity necessary for effective regulation at a national level.