Law Commons^™

Can Consumers Control Health-Care Costs?, Mark A. Hall, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

The ultimate aim of health care policy is good care at good prices. Managed care failed to achieve this goal through influencing providers, so health policy has turned to the only market-based option left: treating patients like consumers. Health insurance and tax policy now pressure patients to spend their own money when they select health plans, providers, and treatments. Expecting patients to choose what they need at the price they want, consumerists believe that market competition will constrain costs while optimizing quality. This classic form of consumerism is today’s health policy watchword. This article evaluates consumerism and the regulatory mechanism …

Tax-Exempt Hospitals, Community Health Needs And Addressing Disparities, Mary Crossley

Articles

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes a number of new requirements on hospitals seeking to maintain their tax-exempt status under federal law. One requirement is that hospitals must conduct a “community health needs assessment” (CHNA) at least every three years and then develop and implement a strategy to address the needs identified in the assessment. This essay explores the potential this provision may offer for identifying, understanding, and reducing health care disparities. By calling on hospitals to focus less on individuals and more on communities, the CHNA requirement may offer a valuable addition to the toolkit for combating disparities. Thinking …

Debate: The Contraception Mandate And Religious Freedom, Steven D. Smith, Caroline Mala Corbin

Articles

No abstract provided.

Beyond Separation In Federalism Enforcement: Medicaid Expansion, Coercion, And The Norm Of Engagement, Charlton C. Copeland

Articles

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius may be known, in both the popular and academic commentaries, as the case about the Affordable Care Act's Individual Mandate provision. History may record it as one of the most significant cases in the jurisprudence of cooperative federalism. In invalidating part of the Medicaid Expansion provision, the Roberts Court became the first to invalidate a federal spending statute as unconstitutionally coercive of state governments. This decision has the potential to impact federal-state cooperative arrangements such as No Child Left Behind, and others far beyond the health care context.

This Article argues that lack …

Miami's Medical-Legal Partnership: Preparing Lawyers And Physicians For Holistic Practice, Jonel Newman

Articles

No abstract provided.

Lgbt Taxpayers: A Collision Of 'Others', Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

In this essay prepared for a symposium on the intersection of tax law with gender and sexuality, I explore the violent collision of these two concepts - or, more appropriately, these two “others.” I begin my exploration of this collision of “others” by first explaining how the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community is a marginalized “other” in American society while, in contrast, tax is a privileged “other” in the realm of American law. Then, I turn to a close examination of a recent case, O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner, to illustrate the collision of the otherness of LGBT individuals with …

Designing Model Homes For The Changing Medical Neighborhood: A Multi-Player Pilot Offers Lessons For Aco And Pcmh Construction, Sallie Thieme Sanford Sanfords@Uw.Edu

Articles

This Article first describes the ingrained construction incentives in our current health care system and the challenges they present. The Article then turns to key innovations to address these challenges, with a particular focus on accountable care and medical homes. Next, the Article considers the early spec houses" that provide the model for the PCMHs under development throughout the country. Then, the Article focuses on the design and finance features of Washington's ongoing pilot. Finally, the Article concludes with thoughts on a series of questions raised by this pilot and others like it. Ultimately, what medical home designs are best …

Teaching Health Law In Rural Ethiopia: Using A Pepfar Partnership Framework And India's Shanbaug Decision To Shape A Course, Sallie Thieme Sanford Sanfords@Uw.Edu

Articles

In April 2011, I taught a month-long intensive health law course at Haramaya University College of Law in rural eastern Ethiopia. Given the burgeoning interest in global health law, I suspect, and hope, that others are considering teaching similar courses, whether as visiting or resident faculty. This essay attempts to ease their course preparation workload. I will describe how I used two recent documents – India’s 2011 Shanbaug decision and Ethiopia’s 2010 PEPFAR Partnership Framework – to shape the course. Both of these are worth consideration for use in a variety of health law and policy courses based in low-income …