Public Health Legislation Essay

Public Health Legislation Essay

Research current legislation related to public health. Identify a piece of legislation you feel passionately about. Illustrate your understanding of the legislation, state your position, call for action, etc.Public Health Legislation Essay

Health Law and Regulations Federal regulations play a major role in the health care industry. Federal laws and regulations protect the American public from a number of health risks and administer programs for public welfare. Federal regulations also regulate the health insurance industry by implementing cost-containment measures. Through various regulatory bodies, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) protects and regulates public health at every level. HHS is the United States principal federal agency for protecting the health of Americans and providing essential human services. HHS administers more grant dollars than all other federal agencies combined. Medicare program administered by HHS is nation’s largest health care Public Health Legislation Essay
These agencies share their research and findings with the AHRQ (Department of Health & Human Services, 2011). Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) The ATSDR monitors and regulates the effects of hazardous materials on the public health. The ATSDR responds to hazardous material threats and educates the public of hazmat risks (Department of Health & Human Services, 2011). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) The CDC examines public health and warns of possible health threats from infectious diseases. The CDC monitors birth defects, emergency preparedness, genetic research, Vaccines, and workplace safety (Department of Health & Human Services, 2011). Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) The CMS founded in 1965, oversee most of the regulations related directly to the delivery of health care and initiate health care cost control measures. CMS administers Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children’s Health Fund (SCHIP). CMS is also responsible for ensuring compliance to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Department of Health & Human Services, 2011). Food and Drug Administration (FDA) The FDA is the federal regulatory agency responsible for controlling the safety and effectiveness of the country’s drug supply for both humans Public Health Legislation Essay

Public Health Law Public Health Law Gostin’s treatise on public health law is a very pointed and direct statement on the role that the author believes government should play in the role of improving and maintaining the health of the citizens they are charged with assisting. While Gostin seems very sure of himself, some of what he suggests would be controversial to many people and such derision has been front and center in the public eye since the Affordable Care Act was passed a few years ago. Core Function The core function described by Gostin is the enactment and enforcement of laws that regulate or coerce the public and government in general into behaviors that are for the betterment of the public’s health. One example of this in action would be the United States government banning a substance to be used in children’s toys because it is known to be harmful if touched or ingested.Public Health Legislation Essay

In public health and health care sectors, law and health policies play critical roles in controlling illnesses and reducing deaths. Therefore, it is important to include them in study of health care and public health. It is important for future healthcare and public health practitioners to understand the scope and influence of law in their field of practice (Andre, 2002). Public health law focuses on role of government in improvement of health at various levels of society.Public Health Legislation Essay
In addition, it deals with legal issues experienced in public health practice, as well as effects on health of people (Andre, 2002). Policies and laws that aim to reduce diseases and injuries, as well as promote provision of quality health care services to people govern the health care and public health sectors. Therefore, they aid future practitioners in understanding how law and policy affects their work, as well as their role in implementing their requirements (Andre, 2002).

Bioethics refers to study of ethics initiated by advancements in medicine and biology (Andre, 2002). In addition, it refers to process of making decisions in relation to health care policy and practice. It deals with ethical questions that arise from implementation of health care policies. Bioethics is an important component that shapes and determines establishment of health policies.

Many issues arise from developments in the medical field and health care sector. The issues have varying bioethical implications on health policy, as they affect the well-being of communities (Andre, 2002). In addition, development of health policy generates ethical issues that affect delivery of health care services. On the other hand, bioethics deals with ethical implications of public policy as it relates to delivery of health care services (Andre, 2002).Public Health Legislation Essay

The health care sector has many controversies mainly caused and resolved using health policies. Such controversies include abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, patient self-determination, and role of practitioners in safeguarding patients’ privacy of medical information. Bioethics covers controversial issues related to establishment and implementation of health policy (Andre, 2002).

Decisions related to health law and policy affect interests of many stakeholders. Stakeholders such as employers, the public, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and researchers have different interests in health law and policy (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). Therefore, changes in health law and policy affect their interests significantly.Public Health Legislation Essay

Choices regarding certain policies and passage or interpretation of certain laws affect interests of stakeholders immensely. For example, a court of law could make a ruling regarding requirements of physician licensing and associated duties of physicians to patients (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013).

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The court could rule that a medical practitioner is at will to either treat patient or decline to treat a patient despite the fact that he/she was acting as the doctor of the patient’s family. This ruling would affect many stakeholders. It would affect the patient, the family of the patient, and other medical practitioners (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). It would also affect legislation of the state because the law on licensing could have been ambiguous and therefore in need of amendment.Public Health Legislation Essay

Another stakeholder that would be affected is the public. If such law were passed, it would affect all decisions related to health care and public health. Policy choices or passage and interpretation of law affect the interests of many stakeholders. In the foregoing example, affected stakeholders include the public, health care providers, patients, and the government (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013).

Health care in the United States has changed over the years and the federal government saw need to establish regulatory agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure the elderly, disabled and low income receive quality and cost-effective health care.Public Health Legislation Essay

As a result of health care costs sharply increasing, the government determined it needed to have oversight on the health care industry and pushed for the establishment of managed care organizations (MCO). CMS enforces the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA); this act was created to ensure health care organizations provide a minimum of a medical screening exam to determine if complaint is emergent or not. Most importantly for EMTALA is the obligation to treat emergent cases regardless of the patient’s ability to pay for services. In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was approved by the United States Congress to regulate the use of and protect patient health records and the Department of Health & Human Services oversees the compliance and violations of HIPAA (Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). The intentions of many of these regulatory agencies is to oversee that the health care industry is providing quality, affordable health care and treating patients with fairness and privacy.Public Health Legislation Essay

According to CMS: Steady Growth in Health Spending, 2008) In 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) anticipated that by 2017 the yearly health awareness spending in the United States [will] reach more than $4.3 trillion. Health care expenses will keep on rising so it is vital that CMS attempts to deal with those expenses. CMS is one of the governmental regulatory agencies known in the health care industry. It has various regulations that it directs. The Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) was secured to guarantee all patients have the capacity to get to crisis health awareness treatment paying little heed to capacity to pay for the administrations rendered (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.). Human services associations are committed by law to give a medicinal screening to patients displaying for treatment, without respect to the quiet’s budgetary status. Any medicinal services associations which pick not to take after EMTALA and are found in infringement are liable to punishments and fines, including losing government subsidizing for treatment of CMS patients and the assignment of being a Medicare sanction supplier. Since our social insurance association is non-benefit, we go past EMTALA. A piece of our statement of purpose mirrors our dedication to the “poor and the helpless” and we take that announcement to heart by giving $398 million in philanthropy watch over financial year 2012 (Seton Healthcare Family, n.d.). EMTALA is the baseline in providing care to patients. In order to make an impact and see a difference in the community, we pour millions of charity dollars into the care of those less fortunate. Because our health care organization was founded and continues to work closely with the Daughters of Charity, we hold fast to the teachings of their founders, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac to show God’s unconditional love through caring for the ‘sick, poor and destitute’ (Seton Healthcare Family, n.d.).Public Health Legislation Essay

In 2004, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued an amended rendition of the Responsibilities of Medicare Participating Hospitals in Emergency Cases Guidelines and sketched out imperative changes to earlier year’s rules. One of the greatest changes was the cancellation of “stable for exchange” dialect and supplanted with “steady and prepared for release”. Brown & Cochran, (2004) sated that a patient is viewed as “steady” when “inside sensible clinical certainty, it is resolved that the individual has come to the point where his/her proceeded with consideration, including analytic work up and/or treatment, could be sensibly executed as an outpatient or later

19th century
John snow was a leading British physician of the Victorian era. He is also one of the founders of modern epidemiology as he identified the source of the cholera outbreak in his work in 1854. His study considered the means of how diseases spread and contradicting the principal of the miasma theory which was then recognised as the germ theory after Snow’s death.
Cholera outbreaks happened a lot in London because of the impurities and over crowdedness and because of this it gave Snow a chance to further his theory that cholera could be spread by contaminated food or water in 1854. He wrote down the location of deaths that occurred Snow managed to show that those who died because of cholera were clustered around one main water pump in Broad Street.Public Health Legislation Essay
Edwin Chadwick believed in using science to improve the social and public health in 1832 and was asked to serve a royal commission to investigate the effectiveness of the Poor Laws, a system which as placed in 1601 by social security. As he was investigating living in poor conditions, he became interested in sanitation amongst poor communities. Chadwick believed that is hygiene, cleanliness and ventilation were improved, and then diseases wouldn’t occur as much.
Cholera first appeared in 1831, followed by in 1837 and 1838 by epidemics of influenza and typhoid, encouraging the government to ask Chadwick to carry out a new investigation into sanitation. In his publication, The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population in 1842, Chadwick used many methods to show that there was a direct link between poor living conditions, diseases and life expectancy. He also made many enemies and in 1854 he was forced to retire from the public service; however he continued to further his talents on the research to various initiations for improvement such as the London Metropolitan Commission of Sewers.
The Sanitary Movement 1866 – John Simon was a physician by training, but he is most famous for his dramatic reforms of London’s public health system, which set the standards for the 19th century city’s sanitation and health measures. Of the public health era’s, Simons is generally regarded as one of the most influential work.Public Health Legislation Essay