Health Law and Policy Commons^™

The Preventative Care Gap: Completing The Aca’S Vision For Health, Abby Nagaich

Seattle University Law Review

This Note examines the preventive care mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the legal, political, and practical challenges that threaten its effectiveness. While the ACA significantly expanded access to no-cost preventive services, gaps remain—particularly in behavioral health, obesity management, and equitable service delivery. Ongoing litigation, potential administrative rollbacks, and shifting political leadership further destabilize this critical component of public health policy.

This Note argues that for the ACA to fulfill its original promise—and for any health framework to succeed—preventive care must be redefined as a comprehensive, early intervention approach grounded in both systemic access and patient education. It …

Access To Justice After Medina V Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, Daniel G. Aaron, Nicole Huberfeld

Faculty Scholarship

Access to justice is “the ability of all people to seek and obtain effective remedies through accessible, affordable, … and culturally competent institutions of justice.”¹ Historically, patients and physicians have worked together to protect the integrity of medical care as well as patients’ rights by challenging unlawful government actions in court. Yet the US Supreme Court recently issued decisions that may impede access to justice, potentially empowering federal, state, and local governments to interfere with evidence-based care. We explore constraints on access to justice that may arise after Medina v Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSA) (606 US 357, 2025), …

Beyond Subsidies And Mandates: Testing A Simple Behavioral Mechanism To Drive Health Insurance Coverage, Wendy Netter Epstein, Hansoo Ko, Christopher Robertson, Kevin Wilson, David Yokum

Faculty Scholarship

Uninsured individuals face reduced access to care, financial risk, and higher mortality. Although public programs and private subsidies have lowered uninsurance, these mechanisms remain incomplete and politically unstable. We evaluate whether a low-cost outreach intervention can increase health insurance enrollment without altering plan prices. Using a randomized field experiment involving 16,477 uninsured Maryland households, we assigned households to a no-contact control or to receive email and postcard outreach featuring affordability messaging alone or combined with responsibility or community framings. Outreach increased qualified health plan enrollment by 0.699 percentage points and total coverage by 0.967 percentage points relative to control. The …

Soft Law Governance Of Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare, Gary E. Marchant

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

Private Equity And Non-Profit Status In The Us Healthcare System, Sam Halabi, Sanvi Belani, George O'Hara

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dying Well: Hospice Care As A Diminished Promise, Barry R. Furrow

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reconnect Or Disconnect?: Using Technology To Address Loneliness And Social Isolation For Aging Adults And Its Regulation, Laura C. Hoffman

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

Healthcare Discrimination Under The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, Mélisande Charbonneau-Gravel, Sébastien Jodoin, Siobhan O’Connell

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper explores the role that the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms could and should play in addressing and redressing discrimination in the context of healthcare in Canada. Drawing on landmark as well as recent jurisprudence, we analyze how sections 7 and 15 of the Charter apply to three types of healthcare discrimination: (1) lack of access to healthcare and health services; (2) lower quality of services, and attitudes and biases faced in diagnosis and treatment; and (3) physical, verbal, psychological, and sexual abuse experienced by patients. Our analysis highlights the ongoing, problematic nature of the prevailing interpretations of …

A Matter Of Life And Death: Give Me All Of Your Money And I'Ll Give You Healthcare, Shilanka I. Lewis

Marquette Law Review

The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) is a federal mandate requiring states to recover costs of long-term care and related services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries from their estates after death. This Article explores the core arguments supporting and opposing MERP, offering a balanced analysis of its ethical, legal, and economic dimensions. Proponents argue that estate recovery ensures fiscal responsibility by recouping taxpayer dollars and preventing wealth transfer from those who received public assistance to their heirs. Proponents contend that MERP upholds the principle that Medicaid is a need-based program and a payor of last resort. Conversely, critics argue that MERP …

Access To Healthcare For Irregular Migrants, Jessica Dykes

Journal of Law and Health

Access to Healthcare for Irregular Migrants is an assessment of the right to life, security of the person, and non-discrimination as viewed through the lens of Nell Toussaint's legal battle. It tells the compelling story of an irregular migrant's battle for access to health care. Highlighting a gap in the Canadian healthcare system, this piece raises valuable questions about why that gap exists. Toussaint's experiences with multiple levels of the legal system, both in Canada and internationally, are included. It tells the story from when Ms. Toussaint entered Canada to the present; wherein the matter remains before the court.

This …

Cutting Out The Middleman: How States Can Save Medicaid Dollars By Firing Pharmacy Benefit Managers, Hannah Garden-Monheit, Tyler Haydell

Center for Law and the Economy

Medicaid programs are currently under significant pressure from the passage of H.R. 1 (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”), which cuts federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion over 10 years — billions of dollars per state — and is projected to increase the number of uninsured by 10 million. H.R. 1 also imposes significant administrative burdens on both American families and states, by creating new work and reporting requirements. Faced with these challenges, cash-strapped states are scrambling to reduce costs.

One way certain states can realize cost savings is by removing Pharmacy Benefit Managers — middlemen known as “PBMs” …

Another Step In The Anti-Abortion Agenda, Aziza Ahmed

Shorter Faculty Works

Trump’s recently passed “One Big, Beautiful Bill” bars Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood for one year – a provision now temporarily blocked after Planned Parenthood filed suit. But the measure builds on, and must be read against, the backdrop of Medina v. Planned Parenthood, a recent and disastrous Supreme Court ruling initiated by South Carolina and now poised to inspire copycat efforts in other states. The case starkly illustrates the Court’s continued alignment with an anti-abortion agenda advanced through state governments. As Justice Jackson forcefully argued, the decision forms part of a broader assault on civil rights – and …

Regulating Healthcare Coverage Algorithms, Jennifer D. Oliva

Indiana Law Journal

American healthcare facilities and providers increasingly rely on algorithmic tools to support clinical decision-making, standards of care, and institutional practices related to patient diagnosis and treatment. This development has been characterized as both “promising” and “peril[ous].” Healthcare algorithms are intended to improve and standardize healthcare decision-making, but they also are capable of exacerbating bias and discrimination and, thus, contributing to the delivery of inequitable care for already disadvantaged groups.

For Patients’ Sake! Can We Get Some Clarity? Defending The Privilege And Confidentiality Of Patient Safety Work Product, Alyssa Boob

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In 2000, the Institute of Medicine published To Err is Human: Building a Safe Health System, a report revealing the shocking rate of medical errors plaguing the United States healthcare system. Faced with the horrifying consequences of these medical mishaps, Congress sprang into action. It enacted the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA), which authorized the creation of Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs). Intended to increase transparency and communication amongst healthcare providers, PSOs collect provider medical error data—termed Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP)—and suggest areas of improvement.

The Act grants privilege and confidentiality protections to any information …

Changemaker: Justin Pruett : Juris Doctorate : More Than Words: Insurance Lawyer Justin Pruett L'11 Takes A Different Route Into The Courtroom 2-10-2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Neurotechnology Works Its Way Forward, Jeremy Ben Merkelson, Wendy Kearns, David Rice, Elyse Sparks

Seattle University Law Review Online

Neurotechnology is an emerging and rapidly advancing field of technology used to collect, process, and analyze brain or nervous system activity. The market is expected to reach $21 billion by 2026.

In a previous article, published in October 2023, we explored the potential of neurotechnology applications in the workplace, like electroencephalogram (EEG) headbands that monitor fatigue and boost safety, software and EEG combination technologies that creates a shortcut to the human brain and optimizes complex decision-making, and earbuds that track focus and stress.

We have continued to study and speak about these issues in various forums, and meanwhile, technology and …

Beyond The Hype: The Use Of “Artificial Intelligence” In Healthcare And The Legal And Business Risks Associated With This New Technology, Greg Gulick

Marquette Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Review

None.

Venturing Into Health, Rachel Sachs

Scholarship@WashULaw

In recent years, the landscape of venture capital (VC) investment in healthcare technologies has been altered by the introduction of new types of VC firms: those that have emerged from hospital systems and health insurers. However, the legal literature has not yet analyzed these new VC firms, the role they may play in healthcare innovation, and how innovation law and policy ought to consider their involvement. Hospital system and health insurer VC firms operate very differently than do traditional VC firms, even those that have historically developed healthcare specializations. Instead of simply investing capital into start-up firms, hospital system and …

Consequences Of Artificial Intelligence In Health Insurance: Lawsuits, Policy, And Ethics, Alyssa N. Roberts

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, the healthcare system has been burdened by a multitude of obstacles that hinder the ability to provide effective, affordable, and timely care. Among these, one of the most significant challenges is the role that health insurance plays in shaping the quality of care. Health insurance companies are designed to decrease financial strain on patients, but they have introduced inefficiencies through delayed coverage approvals, increased denials, and administrative costs. Artificial intelligence (AI) has started to play an integral role in resolving these issues for the health insurance industry. Through its quick automated claim processing, fraud screening, and reduced …

From Biased Data Inputs To Your Discriminatory Diagnosis Outputs: A Review Of Legal Liability For Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare, Amber Bolden

Michigan Technology Law Review

While health disparities in America occur due to non-medical circumstances, certain protected classes experience healthcare disparities due to the biases of medical professionals. Biased diagnoses, both intentional or unintentional, have existed throughout the history of the medical profession. That those biases are becoming data for training algorithms raises concerns as the medical field increasingly incorporates and standardizes artificial and augmented intelligence in patient diagnosis and treatment. Currently unregulated but with lifedetermining potential, artificial intelligence (AI) when used in patient treatment leads to important questions: should the doctor, the provider, or the AI developers be liable, and for what? Section II …

This Is A Call To Action For All Primary Care Providers: Do Better For Your Transgender Patients, Kate Castor

Theses and Graduate Projects

Background: Patients of all ages benefit from primary care. However, not everyone has equal access to primary care. Transgender patients often face a multitude of barriers to receiving basic healthcare.

Purpose: Improve health outcomes for transgender patients, enlighten providers on significant disparities, and offer solutions to these disparities faced by transgender community in the healthcare setting and when receiving cancer screening.

Methods: Literature review comprising results from Augsburg University Lindell Library databases, American Journal of Medicine, and Google Scholar.

Conclusions: Everyone can do better for their transgender patients, but primary care providers should take extra care cultivating relationships with these …

Law School News: If There's Life, There's Hope (August 2024), Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

How Is Access To Legal Resources And Advocacy Foundational To Health Justice?, Yael Zakai Cannon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Health justice as a movement incorporates research about how to more effectively leverage law, policy, and institutions to dismantle inequitable power distributions and accompanying patterns of marginalization that are root causes of health inequity. Legal advocacy is key to health justice because it addresses patients’ health-harming legal needs in housing, public benefits, employment, education, immigration, domestic violence, and other areas of law. In medical-legal partnerships, lawyers and clinicians are uniquely positioned to jointly identify and remove legal barriers to patients’ health, advocate for structural reform, and build community power.

Ensnared Care: How Restrictive Healthcare Laws Impact Mothers, Mckenzie Richards

School of Public Policy Capstones

Do restrictive healthcare policies impact whether expectant mothers receive adequate prenatal care? Could such policies also affect access to alternative birthing options for delivery? Through a literature review and a two-way fixed effects model using panel data, this study investigates two categories of state-level restrictive healthcare policies: scope of practice laws and certificate of need laws. The literature demonstrates the detriments of scope of practice care on access to care and maternal health. However, the statistical models presented on scope of practice find no relationship between scope of practice laws and adequate prenatal care or alternative birthing options. Though the …

Clearing The Path: Improving Implementation Of Georgia’S Pathways To Coverage Program, Nicholas Smith

Emory Law Journal Online

Georgia’s Medicaid program is in flux. The State recently launched Pathways to Coverage, a partial Medicaid expansion program for non-disabled adults in households under 100% of the Federal Poverty Line, with eligibility contingent on reporting 80 hours of work per month. Pathways’ rollout coincides with Medicaid “unwinding,” an ongoing post-COVID redetermination process in which thousands of Georgians have already lost coverage. As such, Pathways could play an important role in offsetting the unwinding’s disenrollment effects. But Pathways may also serve as a test case for conservative lawmakers hoping to institute (or reinstitute) work requirements to restrict Medicaid coverage in their …

At-Will Employment And Healthcare: A Constant Conflict, Chris White

MC Law Review

Perfection is impossible. Perfection is essentially possible in the healthcare field, where adverse events are a part of the profession. For this reason, the government has developed systems that attempt to curb the inevitable issues that will arise; however, those systems do not always catch the shortcomings of healthcare-providing institutions. For this reason, the non-physician employees on the ground level, interacting with the patients on a daily basis, are often the best source of information when targeting and curing a healthcare organization’s shortfalls. Unfortunately, barriers exist that keep those non-physician employees from bringing to light what they have noticed.

Too Stubborn To Care For: The Impacts Of Discrimination On Patient Noncompliance, Alice Abrokwa

Vanderbilt Law Review

The role of implicit racial biases in police interactions with people of color has garnered increased public attention and scholarly examination over time, but implicit racial bias in the healthcare context can be as deadly, particularly when it intersects with ableism and sexism. Researchers have found that medical providers are more likely to consider Black patients “noncompliant,” meaning the patient has not adhered to recommended treatment, even without evidence Black patients are less compliant than other patients. Being labeled noncompliant can have grave health consequences; providers are less likely to treat pain aggressively when they consider a patient noncompliant and, …

Systemic Failures In Health Care Oversight, Julie L. Campbell

Georgia Law Review

Hospitals are intentionally shirking their duty to identify and report incompetent medical practitioners, and it is causing catastrophic injuries to patients. Why are hospitals doing this? Two decades of health care reforms have changed the way physicians and hospitals interact in the U.S. health care system, and as a result, the traditional health care oversight tools no longer work to ensure physician competence. With three out of four physicians now employees of hospitals or health care systems, hospitals have become the guardians of both the internal and external warning systems designed to flag incompetent practitioners. As the guardians, hospitals are …

Structural Sex Discrimination: Why Gynecology Patients Suffer Avoidable Injuries And What The Law Can Do About It, Christopher Robertson, Annabel Kupke, Louise P. King

Faculty Scholarship

The nearly four million Americans who undergo gynecological surgeries each year suffer avoidable lifelong, painful, and disabling injuries. This Article diagnoses the root cause in our legal framework for healthcare finance and identifies legal solutions.

America’s public-private system for reimbursing healthcare pays for procedures rather than outcomes, and it pays substantially more for work on male rather than female anatomies. This disparity is due to the federal government’s reliance on a secretive industry committee to set those rates, and the committee’s reliance on junk science surveys, allowing self-interested and gender-biased responses, contrary to objective measures.

As payors disvalue the bodies …

The Criminalization Of Mental Illness And Substance Use Disorder: Addressing The Void Between The Healthcare And Criminal Justice Systems, Emily B. Egart

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.