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Full-Text Articles in Law
Black Health Matters: Disparities, Community Health, And Interest Convergence, Mary Crossley
Black Health Matters: Disparities, Community Health, And Interest Convergence, Mary Crossley
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
Health disparities represent a significant strand in the fabric of racial injustice in the United States, one that has proven exceptionally durable. Many millions of dollars have been invested in addressing racial disparities over the past three decades. Researchers have identified disparities, unpacked their causes, and tracked their trajectories, with only limited progress in narrowing the health gap between whites and racial and ethnic minorities. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the movement toward value-based payment methods for health care may supply a new avenue for addressing disparities. This Article argues that the ACA’s requirement that tax-exempt …
The Affordable Care Act, Experience Rating, And The Problem Of Non-Vaccination, Eric Esshaki
The Affordable Care Act, Experience Rating, And The Problem Of Non-Vaccination, Eric Esshaki
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
Polio, the whooping cough, and the mumps, among many other communicable diseases, were once prevalent in communities within the developed world and killed millions of people.1 The advent of vaccinations contained or eradicated several of these diseases.2 However, these diseases still exist in the environment3 and are making a comeback in the United States.4 Their persistence is directly attributable to the rising trend among parents refusing to vaccinate their children.5 One proposed solution to this problem is to hold parents liable in tort when others are harmed by their failure to vaccinate. Another proposed solution argues that parents should pay …
Thou Shalt Not Electioneer: Religious Nonprofit Political Activity And The Threat “God Pacs” Pose To Democracy And Religion, Jonathan Backer
Thou Shalt Not Electioneer: Religious Nonprofit Political Activity And The Threat “God Pacs” Pose To Democracy And Religion, Jonathan Backer
Michigan Law Review
The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC invalidated a longstanding restriction on corporate and union campaign spending in federal elections, freeing entities with diverse political goals to spend unlimited amounts supporting candidates for federal office. Houses of worship and other religious nonprofits, however, remain strictly prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity as a condition of tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3). Absent this “electioneering prohibition,” religious nonprofits would be very attractive vehicles for political activity. These 501(c)(3) organizations can attract donors with the incentive of tax deductions for contributions. Moreover, houses of worship need …
Spending Medicare’S Dollars Wisely: Taking Aim At Hospitals’ Cultures Of Overtreatment, Jessica Mantel
Spending Medicare’S Dollars Wisely: Taking Aim At Hospitals’ Cultures Of Overtreatment, Jessica Mantel
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
With Medicare’s rising costs threatening the country’s fiscal health, policymakers have focused their attention on a primary cause of Medicare’s high price tag—the overtreatment of patients. Guided by professional norms that demand they do “everything possible” for their patients, physicians frequently order additional diagnostic tests, perform more procedures, utilize costly technologies, and provide more inpatient care. Much of this care, however, does not improve Medicare patients’ health, but only increases Medicare spending. Reducing the overtreatment of patients requires aligning physicians’ interests with the government’s goal of spending Medicare’s dollars wisely. Toward that end, recent Medicare payment reforms establish a range …
Breastfeeding On A Nickel And A Dime: Why The Affordable Care Act's Nursing Mothers Amendment Won't Help Low-Wage Workers, Nancy Ehrenreich, Jamie Siebrese
Breastfeeding On A Nickel And A Dime: Why The Affordable Care Act's Nursing Mothers Amendment Won't Help Low-Wage Workers, Nancy Ehrenreich, Jamie Siebrese
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (also known as “Obamacare”), Congress passed a new law requiring employers to provide accommodation to working mothers who want to express breast milk while at work. This accommodation requirement is a step forward from the preceding legal regime, under which federal courts consistently found that “lactation discrimination” did not constitute sex discrimination. But this Article predicts that the new law will nevertheless fall short of guaranteeing all women the ability to work while breastfeeding. The generality of the Act’s brief provisions, along with the broad discretion it assigns …
The Tangled Thicket Of Health Care Reform: The Judicial System In Action, Gene Magidenko
The Tangled Thicket Of Health Care Reform: The Judicial System In Action, Gene Magidenko
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
On March 23, 2010, after a lengthy political debate on health care reform, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. A week later, he signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which amended certain provisions of PPACA. But far from ending the intense national debate on the issue, these enactments opened a new front of battle in the federal courts that will almost certainly make its way to the United States Supreme Court. Much of this litigation focuses on § 1501 of PPACA, which contains the controversial individual mandate requiring …
Access To Medicaid: Recognizing Rights To Ensure Access To Care And Services, Colleen Nicholson
Access To Medicaid: Recognizing Rights To Ensure Access To Care And Services, Colleen Nicholson
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
The Supreme Court has defined Medicaid as “a cooperative federal-state program through which the Federal Government provides financial assistance to States so that they may furnish medical care to needy individuals.” In June 2012, the Court found the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) Medicaid expansion unconstitutional. The Court took issue with the threat to withhold all of a state’s Medicaid funding if they did not comply with the expansion, finding it coercive and a fundamental shift in the Medicaid paradigm. However, Medicaid in its current form may not always be effective at providing beneficiaries with timely access to …
Re-Thinking Health Insurance, Hans Biebl
Re-Thinking Health Insurance, Hans Biebl
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
In May 2009, while promoting the legislation that would become the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), President Obama said that rising health care costs threatened the balance sheets of both the federal government and private enterprise. He noted that any increase in health care spending consumes funds that “companies could be using to innovate and to grow, making it harder for them to compete around the world.” Despite the rancorous debate that surrounded this health care legislation and which culminated with the Supreme Court’s decision in National Federation of Independent Businesses, the PPACA was not a radical piece …
Finding A Cure In The Courts: A Private Right Of Action For Disparate Impact In Health Care, Sarah G. Steege
Finding A Cure In The Courts: A Private Right Of Action For Disparate Impact In Health Care, Sarah G. Steege
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
There is no comprehensive civil rights statute in health care comparable to the Fair Housing Act, Title VII, and similar laws that have made other aspects of society more equal. After Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI served this purpose for suits based on race, color, and national origin for almost four decades. Since the Supreme Court's 2001 ruling in Alexander v. Sandoval, however, there has been no private right of action for disparate impact claims under Title VI, and civil rights enforcement in health care has suffered as a result. Congress has passed new legislation …