National Health Planning and Resources Development Act
Encyclopedia
The National Health Planning and Resources Development Act, or Public Law 93-641 is a piece of 1974 American
Congressional
legislation.
Congress realized that the provision of federal
funds for the construction of new health care
facilities was contributing to increasing health care costs by generating duplication of facilities.
The intent of Congress in passing this Act was to create throughout the United States, a strengthened and improved federal-, state- and area-wide system of health planning and resources development that would help provide solutions to several identified problems.
The perceived problems the Act was intended to address were as follows:
This legislation was also intended to encourage health care providers to play an active role in developing health policy
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
legislation.
Details of the Act
In this Act, three distinct existing programs were consolidated:- Hill-Burton
- Regional Medical Program
- Comprehensive Health Planning Act
Congress realized that the provision of federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
funds for the construction of new health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
facilities was contributing to increasing health care costs by generating duplication of facilities.
The intent of Congress in passing this Act was to create throughout the United States, a strengthened and improved federal-, state- and area-wide system of health planning and resources development that would help provide solutions to several identified problems.
The perceived problems the Act was intended to address were as follows:
- lack of equal access to quality health care at reasonable cost
- infusion of federal funds into the health care system was contributing to inflationInflationIn economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
ary health care costs while failing to produce an adequate supply or distribution of health resources - the lack of a comprehensive, rational approach by the publicPublic sectorThe public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
and private sectorPrivate sectorIn economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
s to creation of uniformly effective methods of delivering health care - misdistribution of health care facilities and manpower
- increasing and uncontrolled inflation of health care costs, particularly the costs associated with hospitalHospitalA hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
stays - inadequate incentives for the use of alternative levels of health care and the substitution of ambulatory and intermediate care for inpatient hospital care
- the lack of basic knowledge regarding proper personal health care and methods for effective use of available health services in large segments of the population
This legislation was also intended to encourage health care providers to play an active role in developing health policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
.