Health Law and Policy Commons^™

The Impact Of Hsas On Health Care Reform: Preliminary Results After One Year, Edward J. Larson, Marc Dettmann

Scholarly Works

With over one year having passed since the Medicare Modernization Act ("MMA") authorized the creation of the first individual Health Savings Accounts ("HSA"), this Article reviews the context, structure, promise, and impact of this new type of tax-advantaged account. The Article begins by briefly reviewing the context of this reform, documenting what both Presidents Clinton and Bush noted about rising costs and decreasing access. The Article then reviews the HSA legislation itself, H.R. 2596, and summarizes how HSAs operate. Part IV of this Article reviews the claims made for HSAs when H.R. 2596 passed as part of the MMA. Part …

Gauging The Cost Of Loopholes: Health Care Pricing And Medicare Regulation In The Post-Enron Era, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard

Scholarly Works

This article explores the problem of risk perception and regulatory loopholes in the unique era of corporate governance that followed Enron and other high-profile corporate scandals. The article draws on behavioral law and economics theory to examine pressing issues in U.S. welfare policy reform. The current Administration's domestic agenda features proposals to privatize traditional government welfare programs, including Social Security and Medicare. Those proposals rely on market competition and other profit incentives to improve quality and reduce program costs. The article traces a detailed case study of a prominent for-profit hospital corporation, the impact of public perceptions of corporate wrongdoing, …

I Want To Live: Medicine Betrayed By Ideology In The Political Debate Over Terri Schaivo, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

The public's view of the political intrusion into the medical care of Theresa Marie Schiavo is well illustrated by two political cartoons. The first, by Tony Auth, reprinted in the Boston Globe shortly after Congress passed a law authorizing intervention by the federal courts, pictures a horde of congressmen charging mindlessly out of the Capitol, all dressed as physicians-one carrying a saw, another an I.V. pole-with the caption, "Coming Soon to a Sickbed Near You . .. [tihe United States Congress." The second, by Tom Toles, published in the Washington Post shortly after the results of the autopsy report were …

Family Privacy And Death: Antigone, War, And Medical Research, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Death ends the doctor–patient relationship, and legally the patient's right of privacy dies with the patient. Other privacy interests survive, the most central of which are those of the patient's family to bury the body and to prevent the disclosure of some personal information, such as medical information, about the deceased relative. Just what privacy interests encompass and when they can be overridden by other interests — such as freedom of speech or the claims of public policy or medical research — are evolving.1 Family privacy concerning a family member who has died is at the forefront of a …

Jumping Frogs, Endangered Toads, And California's Medical-Marijuana Law, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Mark Twain wasn't thinking about federalism or the structure of American government when he wrote “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Nonetheless, he would be amused to know that today, almost 150 years later, the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee not only has a jumping-frog contest but also has its own Frog Welfare Policy. The policy includes a provision for the “Care of Sick or Injured Frogs” and a limitation entitled “Frogs Not Permitted to Participate,” which stipulates that “under no circumstances will a frog listed on the endangered species list be permitted to participate in the …

“Culture Of Life” Politics At The Bedside: The Case Of Terri Schiavo, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

For the first time in the history of the United States, Congress met in a special emergency session on Sunday, March 20, to pass legislation aimed at the medical care of one patient — Terri Schiavo. President George W. Bush encouraged the legislation and flew back to Washington, D.C., from his vacation in Crawford, Texas, so that he could be on hand to sign it immediately. In a statement issued three days earlier, he said: “The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues. . . . Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. …

Pharmaceutical Arbitrage: Balancing Access And Innovation In International Prescription Drug Markets, Kevin Outterson

Faculty Scholarship

While neoclassical economic theory suggests that arbitrage will undermine global differential pricing of pharmaceuticals, the empirical results are more complex. Pharmaceutical regulation, IP laws, global trade agreements, and company policies support differential pricing despite the pressure of arbitrage. For essential access programs in particular, the theoretical threat of pharmaceutical arbitrage is shown to be rarely observed empirically. Counterfeiting is demonstrated to be the more serious threat. These conclusions call for changes in the U.S. PEPFAR program for AIDS and in the implementation of the WTO TRIPS Agreement.

A more fundamental question, however, is whether pharmaceutical differential pricing is appropriate for …