The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to increase accessibility to medical resources for those previously uninsured. Certainly, the ACA has expanded insurance to millions of Americans, however, the evidence and discourse surrounding health accessibility calls into question why, despite the growth of insured Americans, the increase in health insurance coverage under the ACA has not lead to greater accessibility for low income minorities. I propose that disparities in preventive care, the emergency room, and primary care provider services stand as barriers for low income minorities. Insurance coverage does not necessarily equate to greater accessibility if individuals do not have the means to utilize those resources.

Trata-se de pesquisa quali-quantitativa que envolve observação participante, análise de documentos e realização de entrevistas com usuários de um hospital do SUS e um particular. O foco da investigação é o consentimento informado na assistência à saúde, entendido como o processo decisório compartilhado no qual há troca de informações, impressões e valores entre os usuários do serviço e os profissionais de saúde. Objetivou-se verificar sua prática no sistema de saúde brasileiro, com recorte para a área da oncologia. Para a análise estatística, as variáveis categóricas foram avaliadas por meio do teste exato de Fisher e, as variáveis numéricas, comparadas utilizando o teste t, com nível de significância de 5 por cento . Quanto aos termos de consentimento, os testes de Flesch e Flesch-Kincaid apontaram legibilidade inadequada segundo padrões internacionais, bem como diante dos níveis educacionais de fato encontrados nos hospitais. Mais de 70 por cento dos entrevistados do SUS não tinham escolaridade compatível com a exigida para a leitura dos documentos. Apesar de a quase totalidade dos usuários dos hospitais ter relatado satisfação com as informações recebidas sobre o procedimento que iria realizar, apenas 58 por cento souberam elencar ao menos um risco relacionado ao mesmo. Conforme o esperado, houve associação entre nível educacional e renda dos usuários com a compreensão de riscos dos procedimentos. Mesmo que não se tenha notícia da variável renda ter sido considerada em estudos anteriores, por meio de regressão logística múltipla, observou-se que teve peso muito maior do que a escolaridade em predizer a chance de a pessoa citar um dos riscos do procedimento, embora ambos os fatores sejam preditores independentes. Não houve relação entre a compreensão de riscos e se o hospital era SUS ou particular, e nem em relação ao tempo de tratamento. Diferentemente de pesquisas em outros países, tampouco houve associação entre nível educacional e leitura do termo de consentimento. Entretanto, quando foi o médico, dentre os profissionais de saúde, quem entregou o termo, este foi mais lido pelos usuários. Houve associação entre o usuário estar no hospital particular e acreditar que o termo de consentimento serve para proteger os médicos, em contraposição a servir à sua própria garantia. Pela análise qualitativa, os usuários do SUS tiveram maior habilidade que o esperado na compreensão do diagnóstico e histórico da doença. Acredita-se que o bom acolhimento conseguiu superar em parte o nível educacional e de renda que foram detectados como barreiras ao entendimento das informações, de forma que a humanização da saúde parece impactar positivamente na compreensão das informações pelos usuários. Contudo, em ambos os hospitais, apesar de conseguirem relatar bem os procedimentos pretéritos e futuros, muitos usuários pareciam não saber se contextualizar em seus tratamentos e nem entender os motivos e objetivos dos procedimentos realizados. Em geral, tanto usuários como profissionais mostraram não entender o que é o consentimento informado e a diferença deste para os termos de consentimento, comumente tratados como mera burocracia jurídica. Tudo isso pode estar prejudicando os objetivos do consentimento informado e são questões que necessitam ser repensadas no sistema de saúde / This qualitative-quantitative research includes participant observation, document analysis, and interviews with users from both SUS and private hospitals. It focuses the informed consent in the health care, understood as the shared decisionmaking process in which information, opinions, and values are exchanged between the service users and their health professionals. The goal is to analyze the practice of the informed consent within the Brazilian Health Systems oncology field. The evaluations of categorical variables associations used the Fisher\'s exact test, while the numerical variables were compared through a t-test, at the 5 per cent significance level. Through Flesch and Flesch-Kincaid methods, it was found that the hospitals informed consent terms are of inadequate readability according to international standards, and also inappropriate compared to the actual users literacy level: more than 70 per cent of the SUS interviewees do not match the required literacy standard for comprehending the documents. In addition, although almost all users reported satisfaction with the information they received about their procedure, only 58 per cent were able to name at least one related risk. As expected, there was an association between the educational and income levels of the participants and their ability to understand the risks of a medical procedure. It is noteworthy that previous studies, both national and foreign, do not seem to have considered income level as a variable. Although both factors were independent predictors, multiple logistic regressions showed that income level had a greater weight than educational level in predicting a person\'s chance of citing one of the procedural risks. Additionally, no matter the timing of the treatment, there was no relation between knowledge of risks and whether the hospital is SUS or private. Unlike results found in other countries, there appears to be no association between educational level and the reading of consent terms. Nevertheless, when the doctor is the health professional who applies the term, it is read more often by the users. The research demonstrated that there was an association between the user being in the private hospital and believing that the consent term exists to protect the rights of the doctor instead of their rights as health service users. Through qualitative analysis, this study found that the SUS hospital users had greater ability than expected to understand disease diagnosis and history. The hospitals effective patient care appears to have partly overcome the educational barrier that often prevents patients from understanding diagnostic and medical procedures information, so that humanization of healthcare seems to have a positive impact on users understanding of information. Despite of both hospitals users satisfactorily report past and future procedures, several of them appear not to contextualize their treatments either understand the performed procedures reasons and objectives. In general, users and health professionals in both hospitals do not seem to understand the informed consent concept, neither the difference between informed consent and informed consent terms, generally seen as mere legal bureaucracy. All of these issues may jeopardize the goals of informed consent, if they are not addressed properly at the health care

An analysis of the evolution of the Commerce Clause, the Justices on the Supreme Court, and the arguments presented in this case indicate that the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be struck down. Although the Court will likely be split 5 to 4 along ideological lines, each of the justices will have a unique rationale behind their decision. Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, and Justice Kennedy were heavily targeted by both parties’ oral and written arguments because there was speculation that any one of these traditionally conservative justices could be the fifth vote to uphold the individual mandate. However, it does not appear likely that the federal government supported their claims well enough to yield such a result. Instead, the Court will respond in the negative to the issue of "Whether Congress had the power under Article I of the Constitution to enact the minimum coverage provision." The Court’s interpretation of the Congress' commerce power has undergone two major expansions since the Constitution was ratified, and both of these expansions were met with a contractionary response to prevent the commerce clause’s growth into an unchecked power. This Court will not open a new frontier of power for the Congress, but rather it will respect the limits on Congressional power established by the Rehnquist Court.

The legalization of medical marijuana has been a complicated and confusing process. The drug is used for medical purposes yet is only semi-legal and not approved by the federal government. This piece will observe the legal medical history of this drug in the United States. It will analyze the growth of the medical marijuana movement up to the present with a special emphasis to the importance of federal, state and local supremacy. It will observe important court cases that have been decisive in defining the reach of federal power under the Commerce Clause and the 1970 Controlled Substance Act. This analysis will look at the current legal standing of medical marijuana as well as the legal hurdles to achieve full legal status and medical recognition from state federal and local levels of government. A special focus will be given to the state of California because it has the largest medical marijuana market and has taken center stage in the movement to legalize marijuana as a medicine. This paper will also cover the growth of the state condoned medical marijuana black market and the complications that arise from taxing, and licensing semi-legal businesses. This paper will assess the monetary and personal costs of this movement and the political elements of resisting the medical development and scientific understanding of this drug. It will seek to suggest a solution to the current impasse and explain why medical marijuana in this instance has been bad medicine and dangerous policy.

This dissertation explores tensions between individual freedom and institutional authority. Chapter one examines public perceptions of the legitimacy of "new frontier" public health measures. I present results from a national survey of 1,817 adults concerning the acceptability of public health interventions for noncommunicable diseases. We found that support for these interventions is high overall; strongly associated with race and political orientation; and tied to perceptions of democratic representation in policy making. There was much support for strategies that enable people to exercise healthful choices, but considerably less for more coercive measures. These findings suggest that the least coercive path will be the smoothest. Additionally, the findings underscore the need for policy makers to involve the public in decision making, understand the public's values, and communicate how policy decisions reflect this understanding.

Šio darbo objektas yra sveikatos sistemos teisinė reforma. Rašant šį darbą, pasitelkus teisės teoriją, bandoma atsakyti į klausimą ar sveikatos sistema gali būti laikoma sveikatos teisės dalyku. Toliau keliama hipotezė, jog sveikatos sistemą Lietuvoje, kaip teisinių santykių visumą būtina aiškiai teisiškai reglamentuoti. Siekiant įrodyti šią hipotezę nagrinėjama sveikatos sistemos samprata, jos formavimas ir įgyvendinimas kaip teisinių santykių visuma. Toliau pateikiama sveikatos sistemos teisinio reglamentavimo teisės sistemoje problematika. Darbe apžvelgiami pagrindiniai sveikatos sistemą reglamentuojantys teisės aktai. Juose siekiama išskirti tas teisės normas, kurios apibrėžia svarbiausias sveikatos reformos dalis. Kaip ir kiekvienoje reformoje bandoma atsakyti į aktualius klausimus: ką mes padarėme, kur mes dabar esame, ko siekiame ir kaip mes tai pasieksime. Apžvelgus reformos etapus, išanalizavus pagrindinius sveikatos sistemos teisės aktus, nustatomos problemos. Išskiriamos ir apibendrinamos pagrindinės sveikatos teisinės reformos Lietuvoje dalys: padėties analizė, pagrindiniai tikslai ir prioritetai bei priemonės. Šių magistro tezių apimtis yra 63 lapai. / The object of the thesis is legal reform of the Lithuanian health system. This study targets the question whether the health system can be considered as a health law based on the law theory. Hypothesis of this study is that health system, as the whole complex of legal relationships, must be clearly legally regulated. In order to support the hypothesis the health system together with its development and implementation is analyzed as a whole of legal relationships. The topic of the health system legal regulation in the context of the law system is presented. The overview of the key legal regulations in the health system is given. The emphasis is made on those regulations that describe main parts of the health system reform. As usual in a reform it is sought to answer the following questions: what have we done, where we are at the moment, what do we want and how are we going to achieve this. The problems of the health system are uncovered as a result of reform stages overview and key health system laws analysis. Main parts of the health system legal reform in Lithuania (current state analysis, objectives, priorities and tools) are distinguished and summarized. Master thesis consist of 63 pages.

Orientador: Gastão Wagner de Sousa Campos / Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T15:54:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_Lenirdos_D.pdf: 2085400 bytes, checksum: e53d94dc16aa73de0c48f6859e69f2ba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Trata-se o presente trabalho de um estudo, fundado no critério hermenêutico, que tem por finalidade analisar o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) à luz de sua forma organizativa, expressada no art. 198 da Constituição Federal, que conforma um sistema de interdependências federativas gerido por entes autônomos, na forma do disposto no art. 18. Preliminarmente, este trabalho analisa as formas de Estado e as concepções mais modernas de federalismo, que hoje se multiplica, a partir do clássico federalismo dual para o federalismo cooperativo, solidário e de interdependências tão afeito ao nosso Sistema Único de Saúde. Ao analisar o federalismo brasileiro, não se pode deixar de analisar as marcas do centralismo histórico na nossa República mitigando as práticas federativas, com grave influência na gestão político-administrativa, em especial no SUS - um sistema de interdependência e inter-relação federativa - que conta com a forte presença do poder central - a União - exercida pelo Ministério da Saúde em todo o país. Essa presença tem distorcido a descentralização política prevista na Constituição Federal e ofuscado o papel do estado-membro, por pautar e tutelar os entes federativos em razão dos recursos financeiros que se centram na União e que devem ser partilhados entre os entes subnacionais por critérios nem sempre pautados na lei. O centralismo federal em relação ao SUS se estrutura a partir de seu financiamento, uma vez que grande parte dos recursos que o sustentam são recursos federais transferidos pela União aos entes subnacionais, para programas e projetos definidos em âmbito federal. Esse fato tem forte repercussão na organização do Sistema Único de Saúde que se estrutura mais pelo seu financiamento e orientações federais e menos pelo planejamento global da saúde fundado nas necessidades de saúde da população. Outro ponto importante é a competência comum dos entes federativos no tocante à saúde, sua autonomia federativa e sua interdependência organizativa. Essas aparentes antinomias jurídicas - a autonomia federativa e a interdependência organizativa - requerem soluções que as harmonizem, garantindo ao SUS uma sólida estrutura jurídico-administrativa / Abstract: This dissertation is a study on the organization form of the Brazilian Unified Health System - Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) that, according to article 198 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, is a system of federative interdependence managed by autonomous entities, as set forth under article 18 of such Constitution. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach, with emphasis in the legal standpoint and interpretation of the major guidelines of the Principles embedded in the Constitution and the protection of the Basic Human right to Health. There is an initial focus on the conceptual framework of Federalism and the traditions where the Brazilian Model got its background. The Brazilian State and its organization form and structure for the Health are scrutinized: the role of the Federal State, its centralistic imposition and influence on SUS' management. The study analyses how the characteristics of federative interdependence and mutual relationship, are harmed by the strong presence of central authority, the Federal Government, through the Brazilian Health Ministry. Concerning the SUS, the federal centralism is materialized through the form of its financing, since a large amount of resources that supports it is assigned by the federal Government to programs and projects determined by federal scope, prevailing over a federal or decentralized system. That situation has a strong impact on SUS' organization, defining its priorities rather by the sources of its financing than by global health planning, that should have as its foundation the people's need for health. The interdependence and autonomy require solutions that reaches a compromise between these contradictions, assuring to SUS a legal and administrative structure that allow overcoming its contradictions, in order to bring together an efficient system. To achieve this purpose, some ideas are presented, ideas that attempt to reconcile all required elements to a management that guarantees to citizens the right to health. With such aim, some structures and institutional arrangements are proposed, like interfederal network of health, health area, sanitarian map, public act agreement, interfederals collegiates, that are integrality patterns that could organize SUS and make it operate in an integrated way and meeting local needs. Citizens should be the centre of all technical, administrative and legal movements, in order to guarantee good services in reasonable time framework / Doutorado / Política, Planejamento e Gestão em Saúde / Doutor em Saude Coletiva

La qualité des soins a progressivement été intégrée dans l’ordre juridique français. Elle est désormais reconnue de manière indirecte comme un droit du patient et un objectif à atteindre pour les professionnels et les établissements de santé.Toutefois, le champ de la qualité des soins ne bénéficie pas d’un cadre juridique propre. Un droit souple de la qualité des soins a parallèlement émergé pour répondre principalement à l’inadaptation du droit dur à ce domaine et plus largement à la pratique médicale au regard notamment de la rapidité de son évolution. Ces « instruments » de droit souple se distinguent des règles de droit dur, traditionnellement définies comme obligatoires et assorties d’un régime de sanctions de l’autorité publique.Le champ de la qualité des soins obéit ainsi à un régime normatif gradué s’étendant du droit dur au droit souple, ce qui implique désormais de définir l’articulation entre les différents dispositifs et leurs effets juridiques.En effet, l’amélioration de la qualité des soins est également freinée par la surproduction des dispositifs et la crainte des professionnels de voir leur responsabilité engagée à la suite de leur participation à ces démarches.Des évolutions réglementaires, organisationnelles et opérationnelles visant d’une part à élaborer un régime juridique dédié aux données issues de ces démarches et, d’autre part, à préciser les rôles et compétences de chaque acteur afin notamment de coordonner l’ensemble des dispositifs semblent indispensables. En revanche, une législation spécifique portant sur la protection des professionnels n’est pas souhaitable. / Quality of care has gradually been incorporated into French law. It is now recognized indirectly as a patient's right and a goal for professionals and health institutions to achieve.However, the quality of care domain does not have its own legal framework. Soft law concerning care quality has emerged in parallel as a principle response to the hard law’s inadequacy in this domain, and to a wider extent, with special regard to the fast evolution in medical practice. These « soft law » instruments are different from their hard law counterparts which are traditionally defined as mandatory and are accompanied by a regime of sanctions issued by public authority.In this way the care quality domain conforms to a graduated regulatory system which extends from hard law to soft law. This now entails defining the articulation between the different instruments and their legal effects.In fact, improvements to care quality are being slowed by the overproduction of measures and professionals’ fears of being held liable as a result of their participation in these processes.It seems indispensable that regulatory, organizational, and operational changes should both target the development of a legal regime dedicated to data from these approaches, as well as the clarification of the roles and skills of each player especially as concerns the entirety of the measures. In contrast, specific legislation targeting the protection of professionals is not desirable.

This thesis is concerned with determining whether South African mental health law and its application in practice is in need of reform. In order to reach its objectives, the thesis measures mental health legislation and criminal law that affect the mentally ill individual or offender against international and local human rights standards, and generally accepted principles and scientific principles applicable in the mental health profession. Particular focus is placed on the admission of a mentally ill person as a voluntary, assisted or involuntary mental health care user, State Patient or mentally disordered prisoner in terms of the Mental Health Care Act 17 of 2002 (?MHCA?), as well a critical review of the MHCA forms used to translate the Act?s provisions into practice. The thesis critically discusses the regulation of mental health care practitioners in terms of the Health Professions Act 56 of 1974, including psychology and psychiatry and the expert witness, and the new Traditional Health Practitioners Act 22 of 2007 and its regulations. An outline of the role of the National Health Act 61 of 2003 in the administration of the health system is provided.The thesis analyses the manners in which mental health affects criminal liability, and Chapter 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. Finally a desktop study into the current state of mental health care provision and the implementation of legislation in practice is conducted, followed by conclusions and recommendations for reform to legislation, policy, and the MHCA forms where anomalies have been identified. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Public Law / LLD / Unrestricted

Introduction La collaboration interprofessionnelle (CI) est essentielle à l'efficacité des soins de santé au Canada. Cette pratique est modélisée par un ensemble de lois, règlements et politiques, mais la littérature quant à leur impact sur la CI est rare. Utilisant la théorie de la managérialisation du droit, cette étude vise à illustrer l'écart entre le cadre juridique propre à la CI et la connaissance de celui-ci par les cliniciens. Méthode Un sondage anonyme en ligne a été lancé en avril 2019 et envoyé aux infirmières et aux médecins du Québec, Canada. Les questions portaient sur le cadre juridique de la CI, les sources de connaissances juridiques et les perceptions ou croyances en regard de la CI. L’objectif principal était de déterminer l'écart entre le cadre juridique et la compréhension de celui-ci. L’objectif secondaire était d'identifier les sources de connaissances juridiques pour les cliniciens du Québec. Résultats Au total, 267 participants ont répondu au sondage, soit un taux de réponse de 35 %. 184 sondages ont été remplis par des infirmières et des médecins de toutes les régions du Québec. Pour l'acquisition de connaissances, 40 % des médecins se sont tournés vers les assureurs alors que 43 % des infirmières se sont tournées vers leur ordre professionnel. Seulement 30% des médecins ont correctement identifié quelle activité est réservée aux médecins uniquement tandis que 39% des infirmières ont correctement identifié leur iii activité réservée. En ce qui concerne les perceptions juridiques, 28 % des médecins et 39 % des infirmières pensaient que la CI pourrait accroître leur responsabilité. Ces participants ont plus tendance à nommer les problèmes liés à la responsabilité comme des obstacles à la CI. Interprétation Il existe un écart important entre les connaissances des cliniciens des lois et les politiques et le contenu réel de ceux-ci. Cette lacune peut conduire à des interprétations erronées des textes normatifs par les cliniciens, à des changements de politiques inefficaces par les décideurs et peut perpétuer une mise en oeuvre inefficace de la CI. / Background Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is central to effective care in Canada. This practice is structured by an array of laws, regulations and policies but the literature on their impact on IPC is scarce. Using the managerialization of law theory, this study aims to illustrate the gap between the texts and clinicians’ knowledge of the legal framework. Method An anonymous web-based survey was launched in April 2019 and sent to nurses and physicians in Quebec, Canada. The questions were about the IPC legal framework, legal knowledge sources and IPC perceptions or beliefs. The primary outcome was to determine the gap between the law and understanding of the law. The secondary outcome was to identify legal knowledge sources for clinicians in Quebec. Results A total of 267 participants filled in the survey, a response rate of 35%. 184 surveys were completed by nurses and physicians from all areas. For knowledge acquisition, 40% of physicians turned to insurers whereas 43% of nurses turned to their regulatory body. Only 30% of physicians correctly identified what activity is reserved for physicians while 39% of nurses correctly identified their reserved activity. Regarding legal perceptions, 28% of physicians and 39% of nurses thought IPC could increase their liability. These participants have a higher tendency to name liability-related issues as barriers to IPC. Interpretation There is an important discrepancy between clinicians’ knowledge about law and policies, and the actual texts themselves. This gap can lead to misinterpretations of the law by clinicians, ineffective policy changes by policymakers and can perpetuate ineffective implementation of IPC.