Law Commons^™

Modernizing The Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act To Harmonize With The Affordable Care Act To Improve Equality, Quality And Cost Of Emergency Care, Katharine A. Van Tassel

Faculty Publications

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal statute passed almost 30 years ago which was designed to ensure equal access to emergency treatment and to halt the practice of “patient dumping.” Patient dumping is a situation where some patients—typically uninsured, disabled, and minority individuals—receive inferior emergency medical care or are denied emergency medical treatment altogether. The goal of EMTALA is to ensure that everyone coming to the emergency room will receive equal care.

Unfortunately, despite EMTALA, the practice of patient dumping has continued to this day. The most recent case in the news is the …

Litigation, Integration, And Transformation: Using Medicaid To Address Racial Inequities In Health Care, Ruqaiijah Yearby

Faculty Publications

Using a public health policy perspective, this article examines the persistence of racial inequities in nursing homes and prescribes a solution to address these inequities. I use empirical data to prove the persistence of racial inequities in health care, analyze the government policies that allow racial inequities to continue, and provide a solution of regulatory integration. Specifically, I propose that civil rights enforcement be integrated with the nursing home enforcement system, which has been aggressively enforced and monitored. There are many strategies that may lead to the adoption of this system. One such strategy is using the Medicaid Act to …

"Medicover": A Proposal For National Health Insurance, Maxwell J. Mehlman

Faculty Publications

This Article provides a description of the events leading up to the workshop, the discussion that took place, and the proposal that emerged. The proposal is intended to be a discussion document rather than a final product. It needs greater detail, a clearer sense of its costs and financing mechanisms, and input from stakeholders. Nevertheless, the workshop participants believe that Medicover may be a viable option for helping to solve the current health care crisis.

The Oregon Medicaid Program: Is It Just?, Maxwell J. Mehlman

Faculty Publications

While the objective of expanding the Oregon Medicaid program is commendable, the means adopted by the Oregon legislature to control the costs of the expansion are problematic. This paper examines the legislature's approach from a legal perspective. The first part of the paper determines whether it is consistent with federal and state law governing the Medicaid program. Oregon is seeking waivers from any conflicting federal requirements, and since there do not appear to be any constitutional impediments, the key question is whether the waivers should be granted as a matter of sound public policy. The second and third parts of …