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Full-Text Articles in Law
One Child Town: The Health Care Exceptionalism Case Against Agglomeration Economies, Elizabeth Weeks
One Child Town: The Health Care Exceptionalism Case Against Agglomeration Economies, Elizabeth Weeks
Scholarly Works
This Article offers an extended rebuttal to the suggestion to move residents away from dying communities to places with greater economic promise. Rural America, arguably, is one of those dying places. A host of strategies aim to shore up those communities and make them more economically viable. But one might ask, “Why bother?” In similar vein, David Schleicher’s provocative 2017 Yale Law Journal article, Stuck! The Law and Economics of Residential Stagnation urged dismantling a host of state and local government laws operating as barriers to migration by Americans from failing economies to robust agglomeration economies. But Schleicher said little …
Medicalization Of Rural Poverty: Challenges For Access, Elizabeth Weeks
Medicalization Of Rural Poverty: Challenges For Access, Elizabeth Weeks
Scholarly Works
This article was prepared for a live conference, on “The Medicalization of Poverty,” held at the University of Illinois College of Law, and a symposium to be published in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. My piece focuses on a constellation of challenges for health care delivery and access to care in rural areas. Discussions regarding health and poverty often seem to focus on the admittedly persistent and multilayered problems of the urban poor: unemployment, substandard and unaffordable housing, violent crime, nutrition and “food desserts,” recreation and safe outdoor spaces, and under-resourced public schools, to name a few. While …
What Is (And Isn't) Healthism, Jessica L. Roberts, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
What Is (And Isn't) Healthism, Jessica L. Roberts, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
Scholarly Works
What does it mean to discriminate on the basis of health status? Health is, of course, relevant in a number of ways. It can speak to the length of our lives, our ability to perform mentally and physically, our need for health care, and our risk of injury and incapacity. But the mere relevance of a particular attribute does mean that considering it should be legally permissible. Moreover, the potential harms that may result from health-status discrimination raise important moral questions. This Essay explores when differentiating on the basis of health is socially acceptable and, by contrast, when it is …
The Commerce Power And Congressional Mandates, Dan T. Coenen
The Commerce Power And Congressional Mandates, Dan T. Coenen
Scholarly Works
In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, a five-Justice majority concluded that the commerce power did not support enactment of the so-called “individual mandate,” which imposes a penalty on many persons who fail to buy health insurance. That ruling is sure to spark challenges to other federal laws on the theory that they likewise mandate individuals or entities to take certain actions. Federal laws founded on the commerce power, for example, require mine operators to provide workers with safety helmets and (at least as a practical matter) require mine workers to wear them. Some analysts will say that laws …
Employers United: An Empirical Analysis Of Corporate Political Speech In The Wake Of The Affordable Care Act, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, Susan Scholz, Raquel Meyer Alexander
Employers United: An Empirical Analysis Of Corporate Political Speech In The Wake Of The Affordable Care Act, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, Susan Scholz, Raquel Meyer Alexander
Scholarly Works
Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) bad for business? Did the countries' most prominent companies game the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure process to make negative political statements about ObamaCare? Immediately following the ACA's enactment on March 23, 2010, a number of companies drew scrutiny for issuing SEC filings writing off millions – and in AT&T's case, one billion dollars – against expected earnings for 2010 alone, based on a single, discrete tax-law change in the ACA. Congressional and Administration officials accused the firms of being "irresponsible" and using "big numbers to exaggerate the health reform's …
Affordable Care Act Litigation: The Standing Paradox, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
Affordable Care Act Litigation: The Standing Paradox, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
Scholarly Works
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) litigation presents a standing paradox. In the current posture, it appears that states lack standing to challenge the federal law on behalf of individuals, while individuals possess standing to challenge the federal law on behalf of states. This Article contends that there is no principled reason for this asymmetry and argues that standing doctrine should apply as liberally to states as individuals, assuming states allege the constitutional minimum requirements for standing and especially where the legal challenge turns on allocation of power between the federal government and states. The Article proceeds by …
Rhetorical Federalism: The Value Of State-Based Dissent To Federal Health Reform, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
Rhetorical Federalism: The Value Of State-Based Dissent To Federal Health Reform, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
Scholarly Works
This Article makes the affirmative case for the widespread trend of state resistance to the recently enacted, comprehensive federal health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, or ACA. A significant number of states have engaged in various forms of objection to the new federal laws, including filing lawsuits against the federal government, enacting laws providing that ACA will not apply to residents of the state, and refusing to cooperate with implementing the new laws. This Article identifies reasons why those actions should not be disregarded simply as Tea Party antics or election-year gamesmanship but instead …
State Constitutionalism And The Right To Health Care, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
State Constitutionalism And The Right To Health Care, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard
Scholarly Works
This Article examines state constitutions and health care rights. Notably, close to a third of states’ constitutions recognize health while the U.S. Constitution contains no reference. Ample scholarly commentary exists on the absence of a right to health care under the U.S. Constitution but little attention has been paid to state constitutional law. This Article begins by explaining the absence of a federal right and the rationale for looking to state constitutional protections for health. The Article then provides a comprehensive survey of state constitutional provisions and judicial decisions enforcing or interpreting them. The survey reveals certain common themes and …
Reconstructing The Individual Mandate As An Escrow Account, Gregg Polsky
Reconstructing The Individual Mandate As An Escrow Account, Gregg Polsky
Scholarly Works
This short essay in Michigan Law Review First Impressions describes how the individual mandate could be reconstructed as an escrow account. Such a restructuring would ameliorate policy concerns regarding the mandate while still deterring the opportunistic behavior that would otherwise occur as a result of the nondiscrimination rules imposed on insurers.
"In The Twinkling Of An Eye": A Proporsal For The Standard Of Legality To Be Applied In Hospital Staff Privileges Cases, Sarah Bartholomew Ellerbee
"In The Twinkling Of An Eye": A Proporsal For The Standard Of Legality To Be Applied In Hospital Staff Privileges Cases, Sarah Bartholomew Ellerbee
LLM Theses and Essays
This paper addresses one of the most troublesome aspects of antitrust jurisprudence. What standard of legality governs cases dealing with medical staff privileges decisions? Heretofore, it was generally thought that only two options existed. The most frequently used standard of legality for this type of case is the rule of reason. In using this analysis, the court looks at the restraint of trade of the reasonableness of its nature, and its purpose and effect. The pro-competitive aspects of the conduct are weighed against the restraints that the conduct imposes on the competition. In health care cases, courts have looked at …