MHA 708 EXAM B HEALTHCARE POLICY NEWEST 2026
ACTUAL EXAM – LSUS | PASS YOUR HEALTH POLICY
GRADUATE COURSE WITH CONFIDENCE
Question 1. Which of the following best defines healthcare policy?
A. A set of clinical guidelines for treating specific diseases
B. Authoritative decisions, laws, and regulations that shape healthcare financing,
delivery, and outcomes
C. A hospital's internal employee handbook
D. A private insurance company's marketing strategy
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
Healthcare policy refers to authoritative decisions made by governments and other
institutions that influence healthcare financing, delivery, access, quality, and outcomes.
Clinical guidelines (A) are narrower and focus on treatment. An employee handbook (C)
is organizational, not public policy. A marketing strategy (D) is commercial, not policy.
Question 2. Which branch of the U.S. federal government is primarily responsible
for making laws that affect healthcare policy?
A. Executive branch
B. Judicial branch
C. Legislative branch
D. Administrative branch
Correct Answer: C
Rationale:
The legislative branch (Congress) makes federal laws, including healthcare laws such as
the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid statutes. The executive branch (A)
implements laws through agencies. The judicial branch (B) interprets laws. The
administrative branch (D) is not a separate constitutional branch.
Question 3. What is the primary role of the executive branch in healthcare policy?
,A. Writing laws
B. Implementing and enforcing laws through agencies such as HHS
C. Interpreting the constitutionality of laws
D. Electing legislators
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
The executive branch implements and enforces laws. The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) and its agencies (CMS, FDA, CDC, NIH) carry out healthcare
policy. Writing laws (A) is the legislative branch. Interpreting laws (C) is the judicial
branch. Electing legislators (D) is a civic action.
Question 4. Which of the following is an example of a federal healthcare agency?
A. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
B. American Medical Association (AMA)
C. Joint Commission
D. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
CMS is a federal agency within HHS that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. The
AMA (B) is a professional association. The Joint Commission (C) is a private accrediting
body. Blue Cross Blue Shield (D) is a private insurer association.
Question 5. What is the main purpose of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010?
A. To eliminate private health insurance
B. To expand health insurance coverage, improve quality, and reduce costs
C. To create a single-payer healthcare system
D. To reduce Medicare benefits
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
The ACA aimed to expand coverage through marketplaces, Medicaid expansion, and
insurance reforms; improve quality; and slow cost growth. It did not eliminate private
insurance (A), create a single-payer system (C), or reduce Medicare benefits (D).
Question 6. Which ACA provision prohibits insurers from denying coverage based
on pre-existing conditions?
,A. Individual mandate
B. Guaranteed issue
C. Essential health benefits
D. Medical loss ratio
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
Guaranteed issue requires insurers to offer coverage regardless of pre-existing
conditions. The individual mandate (A) required most people to have coverage. Essential
health benefits (C) define minimum benefits. Medical loss ratio (D) limits administrative
costs.
Question 7. What is the ACA's "individual mandate"?
A. A requirement that most individuals maintain health insurance or pay a penalty
B. A requirement that employers provide insurance
C. A requirement that insurers cover everyone
D. A requirement that states expand Medicaid
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
The individual mandate required most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have qualifying
health coverage or pay a tax penalty. The employer mandate (B) applies to large
employers. Guaranteed issue (C) is an insurer requirement. Medicaid expansion (D) was
optional for states after NFIB v. Sebelius.
Question 8. Under the ACA, what are "essential health benefits"?
A. Benefits that insurers must cover in individual and small-group plans
B. Benefits only for Medicare beneficiaries
C. Benefits only for Medicaid enrollees
D. Benefits provided by employers at their discretion
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
Essential health benefits are a set of ten categories of services that must be covered by
non-grandfathered individual and small-group plans. They do not apply only to
Medicare (B) or Medicaid (C), and they are not discretionary for employers (D).
, Question 9. What was the Supreme Court's holding in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012)
regarding the ACA's Medicaid expansion?
A. The expansion was constitutional under the Commerce Clause
B. The expansion was unconstitutional and struck down nationwide
C. The expansion was coercive and states could not be penalized for opting out
D. The expansion was voluntary from the start
Correct Answer: C
Rationale:
The Court held that the Medicaid expansion was unconstitutionally coercive because it
threatened to withdraw all existing Medicaid funding from states that did not expand. It
made expansion effectively optional. The Court upheld the individual mandate as a tax
(A is incorrect). It did not strike expansion nationwide (B). It became voluntary after the
ruling (D).
Question 10. What is the "coverage gap" in states that did not expand Medicaid?
A. People with incomes below 100% FPL who cannot get Medicaid or marketplace
subsidies
B. People with incomes above 400% FPL
C. People who are eligible for Medicare but not enrolled
D. People who have employer coverage but refuse it
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
The coverage gap refers to low-income adults in non-expansion states who earn too
much to qualify for traditional Medicaid but too little to qualify for ACA marketplace
subsidies (which start at 100% FPL). It is not about high incomes (B), Medicare eligibility
(C), or employer coverage refusal (D).
Question 11. Which of the following is a core function of public health?
A. Providing individual clinical care
B. Assessment, policy development, and assurance
C. Running private hospitals
D. Selling health insurance
Correct Answer: B
ACTUAL EXAM – LSUS | PASS YOUR HEALTH POLICY
GRADUATE COURSE WITH CONFIDENCE
Question 1. Which of the following best defines healthcare policy?
A. A set of clinical guidelines for treating specific diseases
B. Authoritative decisions, laws, and regulations that shape healthcare financing,
delivery, and outcomes
C. A hospital's internal employee handbook
D. A private insurance company's marketing strategy
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
Healthcare policy refers to authoritative decisions made by governments and other
institutions that influence healthcare financing, delivery, access, quality, and outcomes.
Clinical guidelines (A) are narrower and focus on treatment. An employee handbook (C)
is organizational, not public policy. A marketing strategy (D) is commercial, not policy.
Question 2. Which branch of the U.S. federal government is primarily responsible
for making laws that affect healthcare policy?
A. Executive branch
B. Judicial branch
C. Legislative branch
D. Administrative branch
Correct Answer: C
Rationale:
The legislative branch (Congress) makes federal laws, including healthcare laws such as
the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid statutes. The executive branch (A)
implements laws through agencies. The judicial branch (B) interprets laws. The
administrative branch (D) is not a separate constitutional branch.
Question 3. What is the primary role of the executive branch in healthcare policy?
,A. Writing laws
B. Implementing and enforcing laws through agencies such as HHS
C. Interpreting the constitutionality of laws
D. Electing legislators
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
The executive branch implements and enforces laws. The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) and its agencies (CMS, FDA, CDC, NIH) carry out healthcare
policy. Writing laws (A) is the legislative branch. Interpreting laws (C) is the judicial
branch. Electing legislators (D) is a civic action.
Question 4. Which of the following is an example of a federal healthcare agency?
A. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
B. American Medical Association (AMA)
C. Joint Commission
D. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
CMS is a federal agency within HHS that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. The
AMA (B) is a professional association. The Joint Commission (C) is a private accrediting
body. Blue Cross Blue Shield (D) is a private insurer association.
Question 5. What is the main purpose of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010?
A. To eliminate private health insurance
B. To expand health insurance coverage, improve quality, and reduce costs
C. To create a single-payer healthcare system
D. To reduce Medicare benefits
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
The ACA aimed to expand coverage through marketplaces, Medicaid expansion, and
insurance reforms; improve quality; and slow cost growth. It did not eliminate private
insurance (A), create a single-payer system (C), or reduce Medicare benefits (D).
Question 6. Which ACA provision prohibits insurers from denying coverage based
on pre-existing conditions?
,A. Individual mandate
B. Guaranteed issue
C. Essential health benefits
D. Medical loss ratio
Correct Answer: B
Rationale:
Guaranteed issue requires insurers to offer coverage regardless of pre-existing
conditions. The individual mandate (A) required most people to have coverage. Essential
health benefits (C) define minimum benefits. Medical loss ratio (D) limits administrative
costs.
Question 7. What is the ACA's "individual mandate"?
A. A requirement that most individuals maintain health insurance or pay a penalty
B. A requirement that employers provide insurance
C. A requirement that insurers cover everyone
D. A requirement that states expand Medicaid
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
The individual mandate required most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have qualifying
health coverage or pay a tax penalty. The employer mandate (B) applies to large
employers. Guaranteed issue (C) is an insurer requirement. Medicaid expansion (D) was
optional for states after NFIB v. Sebelius.
Question 8. Under the ACA, what are "essential health benefits"?
A. Benefits that insurers must cover in individual and small-group plans
B. Benefits only for Medicare beneficiaries
C. Benefits only for Medicaid enrollees
D. Benefits provided by employers at their discretion
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
Essential health benefits are a set of ten categories of services that must be covered by
non-grandfathered individual and small-group plans. They do not apply only to
Medicare (B) or Medicaid (C), and they are not discretionary for employers (D).
, Question 9. What was the Supreme Court's holding in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012)
regarding the ACA's Medicaid expansion?
A. The expansion was constitutional under the Commerce Clause
B. The expansion was unconstitutional and struck down nationwide
C. The expansion was coercive and states could not be penalized for opting out
D. The expansion was voluntary from the start
Correct Answer: C
Rationale:
The Court held that the Medicaid expansion was unconstitutionally coercive because it
threatened to withdraw all existing Medicaid funding from states that did not expand. It
made expansion effectively optional. The Court upheld the individual mandate as a tax
(A is incorrect). It did not strike expansion nationwide (B). It became voluntary after the
ruling (D).
Question 10. What is the "coverage gap" in states that did not expand Medicaid?
A. People with incomes below 100% FPL who cannot get Medicaid or marketplace
subsidies
B. People with incomes above 400% FPL
C. People who are eligible for Medicare but not enrolled
D. People who have employer coverage but refuse it
Correct Answer: A
Rationale:
The coverage gap refers to low-income adults in non-expansion states who earn too
much to qualify for traditional Medicaid but too little to qualify for ACA marketplace
subsidies (which start at 100% FPL). It is not about high incomes (B), Medicare eligibility
(C), or employer coverage refusal (D).
Question 11. Which of the following is a core function of public health?
A. Providing individual clinical care
B. Assessment, policy development, and assurance
C. Running private hospitals
D. Selling health insurance
Correct Answer: B
