LAW 8002 - Health Law

Elective
This course is an introduction to the regulation of the American health care system and the physician-patient relationship. Healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the United States and currently accounts for approximately 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. In addition, the industry is going through a tremendous restructuring in how health care is organized, delivered, and paid for, in part as a result of the Affordable Care Act (more commonly referred to as "Obamacare") and in part due to market forces and technological developments. This course provides students with an understanding of the laws governing the physician-patient relationship and how the health care system is currently organized, financed, and regulated. The first part of the course examines physicians' professional relationships with patients, hospitals and other health care institutions, the various ways in which the U.S. regulates the quality of care provided by physicians and health care institutions, and physicians' and hospitals' duty to provide care to patients seeking their services. The second part of the course focuses on health insurance. Specifically, we will discuss the regulation of private health insurance, the public insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid, and health care reform. We conclude the course with an introduction to the business of health care and the fraud and abuse laws.
Units: (3 units/PF)

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