http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/Health care law, with digressions into constitutional law, poetry, and other things that matterennoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:11:54 PDTBlogger http://www.blogger.com740125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-you-want-to-skip-explanation-below.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:17:48 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5093718554720928075It's obviously been a while since I posted to this blog. Between directing an ethics center and maintaining a pretty heavy teaching and consulting load, the blog simply took a back seat to more pressing concerns. Since September 2009, a lot has happened on the health law front (boy, is that an understatement!), and during the same time period I started experimenting with Facebook and Twitter as http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/dallas-morning-news-excellent-series-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:17:17 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-6061083659990406994Hooray to the Dallas Morning News for its week-long series on health care and the systemic issues that have contributed to the crisis we are now in. Free registration may be required to view all of these articles. . . .Sun., 9/27: High prices, red tape fuel popular Dallas doctor's move to Temple Sun., 9/27: Focus on cost efficiency, quality pays off for Temple-based Scott & White Healthcare Sun.,http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/good-article-in-todays-ny-times.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:52:47 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-9097165128453239049Good article in today's NY Times comparing the Obama health reform plan to the Massachusetts experience, including a nifty graphic that summarizes the similarities and differences nicely.I think Obama's initial emphasis on cost-control is smart - it's by no means clear that the U.S. can afford universal coverage at this point, and even if we tried, the effort would be doomed if unsustainable costhttp://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/dallas-morning-news-series-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:34:01 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5215351089448019733This is quite a remarkable series of articles on end-of-life care and in particular palliative care at Baylor University Medical Center. Short of watching the amazing 6-hour documentary by Frederick Wiseman ("Near Death"), this is as close as most of us will get to the true in-hospital experience until it happens to one of us or someone we love. All of the articles are collected in one place, http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/wsj-backs-incentives-for-organ-donation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:58:32 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-3292236301136240737I know it will not come as a surprise that the house organ for American capitalism thinks a market for buying and selling human organs would produce a better system than the one we have now (100,000 patients on waiting lists, four times as many as were on lists when the current system was enacted into law in 1984), but maybe -- this time, at least -- they're right. Today's opinion piece, "http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/wsj-gasp.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:54:38 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-773650561449448889http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/vatican-issues-3rd-major-bioethics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:29:40 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5328327406462839929First, it was Donum Vitae (The Gift of Life) in 1987, followed by Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) in 1995. Now the Vatican has given us its third major pronouncement on bioethics in over 2 decades with Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person), released today. The instruction was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly headed by Pope Benedict XVI) and (as the http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/mission-vs-money-wsj-profiles-mt-sinai.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:49:36 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-3881449224149451961Interesting multi-media report in today's on-line WSJ ("Pursuing Charitable Mission Leaves a Hospital Struggling" (may require subscription)) about the financial pressures on nonprofit Mt. Sinai. Here's the video:http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/cleveland-clinic-addresses-financial.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:36:49 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-2730073313962400867 Today's Times has an interesting piece on the Cleveland Clinic's new policy ofpublicly reporting the business relationships that any of its 1,800 staff doctors and scientists have with drug and device makers. The clinic, one of the nation’s most prominent medical research centers, is making a complete disclosure of doctors’ and researchers’ financial ties available on its Web site, http://http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/13-year-old-refuses-heart-transplant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:45:31 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5628126056432263934The story of Hannah Jones is provoking some strong reactions -- both positive and negative -- in the U.K. The 13-year-old girl has refused a heart transplant without which her doctors say she has only months to live. Hannah's reasoning: potentially lousy quality of life and the possibility that the anti-rejection medicine will trigger a relapse of the leukemia she's been treated for since she washttp://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/larry-gostins-public-health-law-text-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:31:11 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-8131507817079007978The great just got better.No public-health law library would be complete without Larry Gostin's Public Health Law -- Power, Duty, Restraint. Originally published eight years ago, PHL was always more than simply a good place to start your research: Gostin's opus had depth to match its breadth.Well, now the second edition of PHL has been published by the University of California Press (it also http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/health-insurers-agree-to-drop-pre.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:44:07 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-524018580232801787You read that right. According to an article in today's New York Times, the two big health-insurance industry associations have agreed to enroll all applicants, regardless of pre-existing condition. The catch? They will only do so if Congress requires all citizens to have health insurance.The industry's concern is pretty easy to understand: moral hazard. Without a requirement of universal http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/washington-passes-pas-ballot-measure.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:53:56 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-3139298300803520287The State of Washington became the second state in the U.S. to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Initiative 1000 passed 58-42, according to the Seattle Post-Intellgencer. The measure looks virtually identical to the Oregon Death With Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1997. The law becomes effective in 120 days after the Nov. 4 election: March 4.It's a matter of time before PAS is legal in a http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/interesting-report-from-commonwealth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:20:31 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-8418883387102467794Interesting report from The Commonwealth Fund:More than two-thirds of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey believe the way we pay for health care in the United States must be fundamentally reformed. Fee-for-service payment--the most prevalent system throughout the country--is not effective in encouraging high-quality, efficient care, http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/tax-exempt-hospitals-and-community.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:19:21 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-2968880771135407820Excellent discusion by John Colombo over at Nonprofit Law Prof Blog, ostensibly about the recent GAO report, Nonprofit Hospitals: Variation in Standards and Guidance Limits Comparison of How Hospitals Meet Community Benefit Requirements (GAO 08-880), but also about current thinking as to whether nonprofit hospitals should be tax-exempt in the first place. His conclusion:Though I've mellowed on http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/seton-hall-law-review-symposium.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:04:01 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-1036319297257999005Preparing for a Pharmaceutical Response to Pandemic Influenza:A Seton Hall Law Review SymposiumOctober 23-24, 2008Seton Hall University School of LawNewark, NJCo-Sponsored byThe Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and theGibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technologyat Seton Hall University School of LawNewark, New JerseySeton Hall Law School’s Center for Health and Pharmaceutical Law, the http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/pay-for-best-care-save-money.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:50:54 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-1186085677086311255Cary Grant is supposed to have said it's cheaper in the long run to buy the best shoes possible -- they will hold up better, last longer, look better over time than the supposedly less expensive alternative. It turns out that health care may work the same way. Here are the opening paragraphs of a Bloomberg News story posted yesterday (and brought to my attention by a student in my health law http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/insurer-to-pay-225m-settlement-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:53:03 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-1341523907712353936The Kaiser Network has picked up on a report from Reuters that Amerigroup has settled a qui tam whistleblower suit in which it was accused of denying coverage to Medicaid beneficiaries who were pregnant or had health problems. (Under the law, Amerigroup was obligated to provide coverage for a Medicaid enrollees.)Amerigroup claims its enrollment practices were intended to meet the objections of http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/pediatric-dcd-in-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:43:29 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-1980095591468927768Today The Washington Post has an article -- Infant Transplant Procedure Ignites Debate -- that builds on yesterday's AP article about three cases in which infant hearts were harvested under a "donation after cardiac death" ("DCD") protocol, which all transplant centers are required by UNOS and HHS. The details of each center's protocol may vary.On the crucial issue of how long to wait before http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/for-better-or-worse-for-richer-or.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:06:47 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-4789058446115546298How to pick a life partner, 2008-style: "Let's see. . . . Good personality? Check. Kind to small animals and young children? Check. Reasonably communicative and okay with intimacy? Check. Excellent health care insurance? DOUBLE CHECK!!" That's the message in yesterday's New York Times article, Health Benefits Inspire Rush to Marry, or Divorce.It's a sign of the times. As HLS Prof. Elizabeth http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/us-health-care-reform-can-8-out-of-10.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:23:24 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5095962379353335019The latest from The Commonwealth Fund is a report based upon a Harris Interactive survey that sought the opinions of a sample of 1,004 adults about our health care system. Here's a summary of the results:Overall, the telephone survey of a representative sample of 1,004 adults age 18 and older reveals that the health care delivery system does not serve the public well — eight of 10 respondents sayhttp://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/congresswoman-slams-religious-rights.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:55:49 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5072223612992774687Scientific American has an on-line interview with Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, who recently published, "Sex, Science and Stem Cells: Inside the Right Wing Assault on Reason" (Congresswoman Slams Religious Right's Assault on Science's "Edgier" Side). Here's their intro:Six-term Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette owns a dubious distinction: She is one of the two co-authors of the bill that http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-study-looks-at-uninsurance-among.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:43:58 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5024564521565740839New Study Looks at Uninsurance Among Immigrants[from today's Kaisernetwork.org's Daily Health Policy Report]Although U.S.-born residents still make up the majority of uninsured U.S. residents, the percentage of uninsured documented and undocumented immigrants is growing, according to a study released on Tuesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the Kansas City Star reports. EBRI http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/latest-health-related-reports-from-gao.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:52:53 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-871551684959770941Electronic Health Records: DOD and VA Have Increased Their Sharing of Health Information, but More Work Remains. GAO-08-954, July 28, 2008 (43 pages).http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-08-954Emergency Preparedness: States Are Planning for Medical Surge, but Could Benefit from Shared Guidance for Allocating Scarce Medical Resources. GAO-08-668, June 13, 2008 (53 pages).http://http://healthlawblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/texas-attorney-general-charitable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (tommayo)Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:35:44 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-313700970234761859For those interested in charity care and community benefits in Texas, the Texas Attorney General is hosting a "summit" on Tuesday, September 16, in Austin. The schedule looks pretty good, if a little basic, but it's the Attorney General's office, for crying out loud, and they do have enforcement authority for Health and Safety Code chapter 311 (though it would be nice to know whether the speakers