The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Health Law

Abstract

The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Health Law covers the breadth and depth of health law through the words and insights of the best scholars in the field. The content is valuable to readers with no background in the field and to those who write, teach, practice, or make policy in health law. The first Part of the Handbook paints with broad thematic strokes the major features of American healthcare law and policy, its recent reforms including the Affordable Care Act, its relationship to medical ethics and constitutional principles, and how it compares to the experience of other countries. The second Part explores the legal framework for the patient experience of care from access through treatment to recourse if treatment fails, and includes several chapters on emerging issues involving healthcare information. The third Part captures the changing nature of healthcare regulation. It begins by discussing how care providers—professionals and facilities—are licensed, organized, and monitored. It then examines laws affecting research and innovation, health insurance and financing, and the challenges of defining and encouraging “high-value” healthcare. The last section in this Part situates public health as an integral part of the healthcare system and therefore as an essential component of health law. The last Part of the Handbook examines issues of increasing importance to healthcare and health law, such as immigration, globalization, aging, and the social determinants of health.