Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Women, Poverty, Access To Health Care, And The Perils Of Symbolic Reform, Mary Anne Bobinski, Phyllis Griffin Epps

Faculty Articles

This article looks at health care through gendered eyes. We sift though available data on access to health care, health status, and health treatments to determine whether men and women experience health care differently in the United States. While we do not doubt that overt gender-based discrimination occasionally occurs in health care, this article focuses on the importance of unintended consequences and unconscious bias. We also explore the impact of symbolism about women's roles on the process of health care reform. The results have important implications for policy makers, advocates, and health care providers.

The United States has a large …

Health Care Reform In The Year 2000: The View From The Front Of The Classroom, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

This article looks at the implications of the evolution of health care reform from the perspectives of teaching health law in the United States. U.S. on Congress' adoption of important limits on federal welfare programs, the direct role of government in financing health care, and the practical and theoretical problems in attempting to move forward to a more government controlled health care systems.

Bajakajian: New Hope For Escaping Excessive Fines Under The Civil False Claims Act, Melissa Ballengee Alexander

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Autonomy And Death, Annette E. Clark

Faculty Articles

In this article, Professor Clark explores the contours of the current debate over physician-assisted death. She begins by focusing on the legal issues raised by statutory attempts to either legalize or criminalize physician-assisted death, with particular emphasis on the constitutional questions that are currently before the United States Supreme Court. She then examines physician-assisted death from both medical and societal perspectives. Professor Clark uses a thought experiment in which assisted death is facilitated by persons other than physicians, and in doing so, questions whether physicians are the proper persons in whom to wrest power over assisted death. She points out …

The Right To Health Care In The United States, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

This article provides an analysis of the history of constitutional interpretation in the United States, and reveals that any right Americans have to health care is a political rather than constitutional right.

Risk And Rationality: The Centers For Disease Control And The Regulation Of Hiv-Infected Health Care Workers, Mary Anne Bobinski

Faculty Articles

The publicity surrounding the Bergalis case has created a new and powerful fear for some-the fear of contracting a fatal disease while obtaining medical or dental care. Following Bergalis' congressional testimony, Congress passed a bill requiring states to regulate HIV-infected health care workers (HCWs). Responding to constituents' fears, state legislatures had already been debating a wide range of bills designed to confront the risk of HIV transmission in health care settings. Private actors, such as hospitals and insurers, feared litigation or loss of business if the public perceived them to be ignoring the problem of HIV infection among HCWs. As …

Introduction (Special Health Law Issue), Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

This article outlines the topic of affordable health care in the United States. It advocates for citizens who, according to the article, do not receive adequate health care attention. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that the United States has the resources to solve the health care crisis.

American Health Policy In The 1980'S, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

The author notes that the composition of the 'fundamental problem" of rising health care costs is not easily defined. The varying interests of providers, consumers, and the government's budget diverge and overlap in a weblike maze, creating multifarious and fractured perspectives regarding what actually constitutes the problem. Consequently, no underlying ideological thread in American health care policy has emerged to direct a unified response to the 'fundamental problem." It is in this political context that American health care policy of the 1980's will be shaped. Professor Wing has undertaken an exhaustive review of both health care cost data and the …

The Emergency Room Admission: How Far Does The Open Door Go?, Ken Wing, John R. Campbell

Faculty Articles

In recent years many private and some public hospitals have assumed a new proprietary persona, a business-like posture that clashes with the traditional hospital goals of charity and community service. This conflict may be most acute in the emergency room where the hospital may further its financial interests by quickly transferring or discharging undesirable emergency patients. This article explores the extent of a private hospital’s legal obligation to treat a patient once emergency care has begun. It begins by looking at hospital revolutions, emergency rooms, and the standards of emergency care. It then explores the common law and “no duty” …

North Carolina's Medicaid Program: The Effects Of The Reagan-Era Budget Reductions, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

This article is principally a description of the current program and the legislative and administrative changes made in response to the recent federal budget cuts, an assessment of the state's current cost containment strategy, and an analysis of the options facing North Carolina in the years to come.

The Impact Of Reagan-Era Politics On The Federal Medicaid Program, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

The political future may be difficult to predict with specificity, but surely the level of publicly-sponsored medical care for the poor will be severely reduced in the coming years, leaving millions of poor Americans to rely on the charitable capacity of the nation's health care providers-or simply to go without. What follows is an attempt to support this characterization of Medicaid and its political future. Section I of this article is a description of Medicaid, its structure prior to 1981, and the legal and political history of its development and implementation. In addition to providing the basis for understanding the …

The Community Service Obligation Of Hill-Burton Health Facilities, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

This article focuses squarely on the community service provision and the regulations promulgated thereunder. The analysis traces the statutory and regulatory history of the community service obligation and examines the scope of the discretion that has been delegated to federal and state agencies to define and enforce this obligation. The discussion begins with a brief history of the original Hill-Burton program and the several amendments and modifications of the program over the last several decades. Next, the legislative history of the community service obligation is examined in an effort to determine the scope of authority created by Congress in establishing …

Title Vi And Health Facilities: Forms Without Substance, Ken Wing

Faculty Articles

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits racial discrimination by recipients of federal funds, including institutions that provide health care. This article assesses the current status of the Title VI enforcement program for health facilities and the problem of racial discrimination in these institutions that the Act is trying to resolve. After analyzing the legislative and political history of Title VI as it relates to health facilities, the author concludes that Title VI enforcement has been ineffective and misdirected and he suggests changes that could improve the program's implementation.

National Health Planning And Resources Development Act Of 1974: Implications For The Poor, Ken Wing, A. G. Schneider

Faculty Articles

The National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974, was signed into law on January 4, 1975, following a lengthy legislative struggle. During the past 11 months, the fighting among private and public health interests has continued, although the principal arena has shifted from the Congress to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, which is charged with primary responsibility for implementing the law. While the final outcome of this political conflict is still difficult to foresee, some informed estimates can already be made concerning the implications of this legislation for the poor. This article will not summarize the …

Representation Of Clients In Matters Relating To Hospital Bills, Ken Wing, S. Axelrad, P. A. Butler

Faculty Articles

This article is designed to acquaint Legal Services attorneys with a range of government health programs for which their clients may be eligible, and a number of legal theories that may impose a duty to provide care on public or private medical care institutions. The primary objective is to provide background material to assist the attorney in getting medical bills paid or defending a collection action. The article also includes a discussion of legal duties to provide care that will be useful in advising clients and consumer groups of their rights and of the programs and services that should be …

Mental Commitment Cases Of 1971 Supreme Court Term, Ken Wing, R. Carman

Faculty Articles

Even in areas where legal representation has become available to the poor through the efforts of Legal Services programs, there is still one group that is almost universally denied representation: those confined under the various forms of civil commitment and patients in mental health institutions. Almost by definition in need of legal counsel and predictably indigent, they are faced with interpersonal and institutional barriers that further reduce their chances to obtain representation. It is the position of the National Health Law Program that Legal Services programs throughout the country should focus some of their attention towards this portion of their …