Health Law

Catalog description

This class focuses on the fundamentals of health law. Healthcare is a basic human need, yet most consumers are confused by their own health insurance. Cost, quality, access, and choice vary wildly across consumers. Healthcare is also one of the most regulated sectors of our economy and subject to overlapping layers of federal, state, and local jurisdiction but is more privatized than in our peer countries. Topics include but are not limited to quality control regulation and liability of health care professionals and institutions; discrimination and unequal treatment; regulation of insurance and managed care with a focus on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare ); public healthcare financing programs such as Medicare and Medicaid; and fraud. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be discussed in relation to the topic of the class session but will not be a focus of the course.