The Law of American Health Care, Third Edition

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A student-friendly casebook for the new generation of health lawyers in an evolving legal landscape, The Law of American Health Care emphasizes lightly, carefully edited primary source excerpts, plain-language exposition, focused comprehension questions, and problems for concept application. It introduces key themes and uses them as a conceptual anchor so when the law inevitably changes, students have tools to nimbly move forward. These themes include: federalism; individual rights; fiduciary relationships; the administrative state; markets and regulation; and equity and distribution. The book engages topics in-depth, to give students a comprehensive understanding of the most important features of health care law and hands-on experience working through cutting-edge issues. 

New to the 3rd Edition: 

• Current debates about government power among public health officials, legislatures, judges, and other state actors, including issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Public insurance materials reorganized so students can better absorb Medicare/Medicaid and apply lessons of the pandemic and litigation over various issues 
• Solidification of ACA reforms, including surprise billing legislation and changes in the exchange subsidies that attempted to fill the Medicaid coverage gap 
• Consolidated health care business organization materials  
• New/revised materials and new cases in tax exempt entities and health care fraud/abuse, state action doctrine, and discrimination in healthcare/health insurance (including history of attempts to address health care discrimination, 1964 Civil Rights Act Title VI, ADA, HIPAA portability, ACA guaranteed issue, renewal, community rating, and Section 1557) 
• Government enforcement’s more aggressive approach to labor issues 
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health and ensuing state law chaos and federal/state conflicts 
• Increased use of digital health care tools and telehealth driven by the pandemic 
• Right-to-try movement and other features of biomedical research that became more relevant during the pandemic 
• New co-author with deep health care legislative and regulatory experience

Benefits for instructors and students: 

• First health care law casebook to reorient federal law as central authority for health care regulation (as opposed to state or common law) 
• Intro chapter with critical organizing themes and in-depth case studies which are woven throughout other chapters, including more prominent emphasis on equity and distributive justice 
• Exploration of two major public insurance programs provided before discussion of private insurance options, intentionally suggesting the increasing primacy of social insurance in the U.S. and underscoring even the most uniform coverage (Medicare) is complex 
• Practice-oriented approach immerses students in primary source materials that include judicial opinions as well as statutory, regulatory, advisory, and empirical sources used in practice 
• Focused on needs of students practicing health care law in a post-ACA, pandemic-impacted world 
• Text boxes highlight key lessons and help explain/enhance material 
• Directed Questions, hypothetical Problems, and end-of-chapter Capstone Problems support focused reading and clearer synthesis of major issues 
• Manageable length 
• Focused on topics encountered in the day-to-day practice of health law 
• Essential connective narrative without overwhelming notes