Health care policies week 1

Chapter 1

Introduction: Understanding the Role of and

Conceptualizing Health Policy and Law

Chapter Overview

• Describes why it is important to include policy

and law in the study of health care and public

health

• Describes three ways to conceptualize health

policy and law

The Role of Policy and Law in Health

Care/Public Health

• Federal and state policy and law shape virtually all

aspects of the health care system, from structure and

organization, to service delivery, to financing, and to

administrative and judicial oversight

• Topics include: advertising and marketing of health

services and products, health care contracting,

employment issues, patents, taxation, health care

discrimination and disparities, consumer protection,

bioterrorism, health insurance, prescription drug

regulation, and more.

The Role of Policy and Law in Health

Care/Public Health

• Policy and law have also long played a seminal role

in everyday public health activities as well as in many

historic public health accomplishments

• One main focus of policy and law in the realm of

public health is on locating the appropriate balance

between public regulation of private individuals and

corporations, and the ability of those same parties to

exercise rights that allow them to function free of

overly intrusive government intervention

Conceptualizing Health Policy

and Law

• There are multiple ways to conceptualize the many

important topics that fall under the umbrella of health

policy and law

• Three conceptual frameworks: one premised on the

broad topical domains of health policy and law, one

based on prevailing historical factors, and one

focused on the individuals and entities impacted by a

particular policy or legal determination

Conceptualizing Health Policy

and Law

• The first domain is reserved for policy and law

concerns in the area of health care, another for

issues arising in the public health arena, and

the last for controversies in the field of

bioethics.

Conceptualizing Health Policy

and Law

• A second way to consider health policy and

law is in historical terms, based on the social,

political, and economic views that dominate a

particular era

• Considered this way, health policy and law

have been influenced over time by three

perspectives: professional autonomy, social

contract, and free market

Conceptualizing Health Policy

and Law

• A third way to conceptualize health policy and law

issues is in terms of the stakeholders whose interests

are impacted by certain policy choices or by the

passage or interpretation of a law

• Patients, health care providers, governments, the

public, managed care and traditional insurance

companies, employers, the pharmaceutical industry,

the medical device industry, the research community,

interest groups, and others all may have a strong

interest in various policies or laws under debate.