The document discusses the evolution of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a public issue through the public issues life cycle framework. It describes how the ACA began as a major issue and has gone through different political management cycles depending on which political party controls the White House. Over time, consumer expectations for healthcare coverage have increased but performance gaps remain as many Americans remain uninsured despite the goals of the ACA. Stakeholder engagement will be important to close these gaps and achieve the overall goal of a healthier society.

1. Topic: Describe a public issue and how it has evolved through
the public issues life cycle.
Public Issues Life Cycle
The Affordable Care Act
BMAL 560 Discussion Post 1
Corey Booth
Liberty University
Public Issues Life Cycle
A public issue is any issue, usually broad and encompassing,
that collectively generates concern for an organization and any
number of its stakeholders (Lawrence & Weber, 2017). The
current healthcare law legally titled the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is more commonly referred to as
Obamacare is undeniably a public issue. For the foreseeable
future, it is an issue that has a life cycle tied to the political
party that occupies the White House. Therefore, the
management process is currently on either a 4 or 8-year cycle
depending upon election results. Regardless of which political
party is in the majority, the issue facing our nation over
healthcare and how to provide for it will still have the same
obstacles facing the American public (Stakeholders in this
case), that needs to be solved.
Performance Expectations Gap
The emergence over the last few years of legislation that has
required Americans to purchase health insurance has driven the
expectations of consumers in an upward trajectory. Setting
performance expectations on this issue is mostly political

2. unfortunately. Consequently, the gap in performance is judged
through a political lens rather than through the lens of the
overall public health of our citizens. Performance Expectations
Gap can be defined as the difference in stakeholder (citizen)
concerns versus what the organization accomplishes. The larger
the gap in performance, the greater the backlash from the
adversely affected citizens Fischer, K. (n.d.). In the first
attempt at requiring healthcare coverage for every American the
expectation was set that the nearly 30 million uninsured
Americans would receive coverage. However the first year only
saw an enrollment number of approximately 9 million which
included Americans that were moved from a pre-ACA plan to a
compliant ACA plan (Kowalski, 2014). By 2016 these
enrollment numbers had risen to 12.1 million Americans
(Blumberg & Holahan, 2016). The expectation was for 30
million Americans to be covered for healthcare but the latest
verifiable data shows that only about half of those intended to
be covered are actually covered. This has created a performance
expectations gap for the PPACA.
Stakeholder Engagement
No organization can purposefully plan nor survive without
being attentive to its stakeholders and responding to their
legitimate needs and concerns. Stakeholders are constituents
with a vested interest in the affairs and actions of the
organization. They are individuals, groups, or organizations
affected by the organization and who may seek to influence it
(Rakich, & Feit, 2001). Therefore, going forward, the leadership
of the United States (our organization) must be attentive to what
works in the healthcare industry if they wish to keep citizens
interested in the overall goal of having a healthier society. As
stated earlier this is complicated by politics which generally
skews the actual needs of the constituents negatively when
compared to the needs of the current elected majority. As
engaged stakeholders if the goal is a healthier society then
stakeholders must demand that leadership address the concerns
of those affected citizens.

3. Conclusion. Healthcare in the United States has been a public
issue for quite some time. It was addressed through legislation
in 2010 in the form of the PPACA and has become a political
issue since the notion was first presented to Congress.
Unfortunately, it is clouded by political affiliations which
skews the opinions of many Americans based on their political
viewpoint. Having a healthier society shouldn’t be a political
football and as a health insurance Agent I deal with this reality
daily. Having affordable access to healthcare should be
available to all Americans who wish to monitor their health and
well-being. Trying to legislate behavior though has proven to be
difficult and doesn’t seem to be a successful path to reaching
the goal. Just as Prohibition, for example, in the early 20th
century didn’t end alcohol consumption in America, the PPACA
for many Americans didn’t allow access to affordable
healthcare. If the public issue is to have a healthier society the
stakeholders of our organization must insist the politics of the
issue be removed and the performance gap be closed between
what the goal is and what the actual results show.
References
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.

4. No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Chapter
3

5. Corporate
Social
Responsibility
and
Ci;zenship
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
the

6. role
of
big
business
and
the
responsible
use
of
corporate
power
in
a
democra8c
society.
when
the
idea
of
corporate
social
responsibility
originated
and
inves8ga8ng
how
a
company’s
purpose
or
mission

7. can
integrate
social
objec8ves
with
economic
and
legal
objec8ves.
the
key
arguments
for
and
against
corporate
social
responsibility.
global
corporate
ci8zenship
and
recognizing
the
rapidly
evolving

8. management
prac8ces
to
support
global
ci8zenship.
among
the
sequen8al
stages
of
global
corporate
ci8zenship.
how
businesses
assess
and
report
their
social
performance.
3-2

9. Ch.
3:
Key
Learning
Objec;ves
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Power:
Capability

10. of
corpora8ons
to
influence
government,
the
economy,
and
society,
based
on
their
organiza8onal
resources.
tremendous
power
of
the
world's
leading
corpora8ons
has
both
posi%ve
and
nega%ve
effects.

11. Corporate
Power
and
Responsibility
3-3
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Comparison
of
Annual
Sales

12. Revenue
and
the
GDP
for
Select
Transna;onal
Corpora;ons
and
Na;ons,
2014
Figure 3.1
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of

13. McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
law
of
responsibility
says
in
the
long
run,
those
who
do
not
use
power
in
ways
that
society
considers
responsible
will
tend
to
lose
it.

14. 3-5
Corporate
Power
and
Responsibility
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-6

15. The
Meaning
of

16. Corporate
Social
Responsibility
• Act
in
a
way
that
enhances
society
and
its
inhabitants
and
be
held
accountable.
• Acknowledge
any
harm
to
people
and

17. society
and
correct
it
if
possible.
• May
forgo
some
profits
if
its
social
impacts
hurt
its
stakeholders
or
if
its
funds
is
usable
for
a
posi8ve
social
impact.

18. Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-7
Ci;zenship:
the
ac8ons
they
take
to
put
their

19. commitments
to
corporate
social
responsibility
into
prac8ce.
term
global
corporate
ci%zenship,
similarly,
refers
to
puLng
these
commitments
into
prac8ce
worldwide.
demonstrate
their
corporate
ci8zenship
by:

20. building
stakeholder
partnerships
business
opportuni8es
in
serving
society
a
concern
for
financial
performance
into
a
vision
of
integrated
financial
and
social
performance
Corporate
Ci;zenship

21. Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-8
the
United
States,
the
idea
of
corporate
social
responsibility

22. appeared
around
the
start
of
the
20th
century.
under
aRack
for
being
too
big,
too
powerful,
and
guilty
of
an8social
and
an8compe88ve
prac8ces.
use
their
power
and

23. influence
voluntarily
for
broad
social
purposes
rather
than
for
profits
alone.
Example:
Steelmaker
Andrew
Carnegie,
Henry
Ford
The
Origins
of
Corporate
Social
Responsibility

24. Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
provides
expanded
framework
for
understanding
the
evolu8on
of
CSR
concept.

25. into
4
phases:
Corporate
Social
Stewardship
(1950s-­‐1960s)
Corporate
social
responsiveness
(1960s
–
1970s)
Corporate/
business
ethics
(1980s
–

26. 1990s)
Corporate/
global
ci;zenship
(1990s
–
2000s)
3-9
Phases
of
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No

27. reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Evolving
Phases
of
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
Figure 3.2
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on

28. without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
responsibili8es
of
business
include
responsibili8es
responsibili8es
responsibili8es
is
to
balance
all

29. three.
ful
firm
is
one
which
finds
ways
to
meet
each
of
its
cri8cal
responsibili8es
and
develops
strategies
to
enable
the
obliga8ons
to
help
each
other.

30. 3-10
Economic
responsibili8es
Legal
Responsibili8es
Social
responsibili8es
Balancing
Mul;ple
Responsibili;es
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on

31. without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
and
social
goals
come
together
in
companies
that
prac8ce
enlightened
self-­‐interest
company’s
self-­‐interest
in
the
long
term
to
provide:

32. value
to
its
customers
help
its
employees
grow
and
behave
responsibility
Example:
Nestle
3-12
Enlightened
Self-­‐Interest
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill

33. Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-13
Figure 3.3
The
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
Debate
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights

34. reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Business
Execu;ves’
View
of
the
Role
of
Business
in
Society
Figure 3.4
Copyright
©
2017

35. McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
refers
to
desirable
or
undesirable
quali8es
associated
with
an
organiza8on
or
its
actors
that
may

36. influence
the
organiza8on’s
rela8onships
with
its
stakeholders.
Reputa;on
Index
measures
a
company’s
social
reputa8on.
evaluates
cri8cal
intangible
assets
that
cons8tute
corporate
reputa8on.
Research,

37. a
Bri8sh
firm,
distributes
the
index
and
ra8ngs
to
interested
par8es.
Business
Reputa;on
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen

38. consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
meet
rigorous,
independent
social
and
environmental
performance
standards.
on
social
responsibility
and
ci8zenship
by
blending
their
social
objec8ves
with
financial
goals.

39. Corpora8on
must
prove
its
socially
responsible
by
mee8ng
the
B
Lab
standards.
Lab
is
a
non-­‐profit
organiza8on
that
assesses
a
corpora8on’s
social
and
environmental
performance
standards.

40. 3-16
The
B
Corpora;on
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw--‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-17
for
Social
Responsibility

41. (BSR)
survey:
goal
of
a
global
ci8zenship
management
system
is
to
integrate
corporate
responsibility
and
ci8zenship
concerns
into
a
company’s
values,
culture,
opera8ons
and
decisions
at
all
organiza8onal
levels.

42. emerging
trend
is
the
consolida8on
of
corporate
ci8zenship
efforts.
Example:
GAP
as
an
opportunity
to:
value
for
their
organiza8on
a
compe88ve
advantage
address
some
of

43. the
world’s
biggest
challenges
Management
Systems
for
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
and
Ci;zenship
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent

44. of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
Figure 3.5
3-18
Stages
of
Corporate
Ci;zenship
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill

45. Educa;on.
3-19
audit:
a
systema8c
evalua8on
of
an
organiza8on’s
social,
ethical,
and
environmental
performance.
Benefit
of
Social
audits
by
Simon
Zadek:
businesses
know
what
is

46. happening
within
their
firm
what
stakeholders
think
about
and
want
from
the
business
stakeholders
what
the
business
has
achieved
the
loyalty
and
commitment
of
stakeholders
the

47. organiza8on’s
decision
making
the
business’s
overall
performance
Assessing
and
Repor;ng
Social
Performance
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without

48. the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-20
Three
different
ways:
1.
Companies
can
develop
standards
designed
to
set
expecta8ons
of
performance
for
themselves
or
their
suppliers
or
partners.
Example:

49. Apple
2.
Companies
within
an
industry
can
agree
on
a
common
industry-­‐wide
standard.
Example:
EICC
3.
Can
be
developed
by
global
nongovernmental
organiza8ons
or
standard-­‐seLng
organiza8ons.
Example:
Interna8onal

50. Organisa8on
for
Standards,
AccountAbility
(AA),
United
Na8ons
Global
Compact,
The
Global
Repor8ng
Ini8a8ve
and
others.
Social
Audit
Standards
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.
No
reproduc;on

51. or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
a
company
decides
to
publicize
informa8on
collected
in
a
social
audit.
ansparency:
When
companies
clearly
and
openly
report

52. their
performance—financial,
social,
and
environmental.
Example:
Zealand
emerging
trend
in
corporate
repor8ng
is
the
integra8on
of
legally

53. required
financial
informa8on
with
social
and
environmental
informa8on
into
a
single
integrated
report.
3-21
Social
Repor;ng
Copyright
©
2017
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
All
rights
reserved.

54. No
reproduc;on
or
distribu;on
without
the
prior
wriDen
consent
of
McGraw-­‐Hill
Educa;on.
3-22
Figure 3.6
Trends
in
Corporate
Social
Repor;ng
Forum 1 Reply to XXX
BMAL 560
xxxxxxxx
Liberty University
Corey, your research and knowledge on the topic of
describing a public issue and how it has evolved through the
public issues life cycle was relevant and made some great
points. ……
References