E-Activity – Use the Internet to research the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Website, located at http://www.nih.gov/; PubMed, located at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/; and other related Websites to examine common law and its effect on healthcare policy in the United States.

PART A “Common Law and Separation of Power” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, interpret the role that common law has played in health care in the United States. Assess the level at which common law has impacted overall decisions related to healthcare policy. Provide (2) specific examples to support your rationale.
• Differentiate between checks and balances in the separation of power. Specify (2) examples related to health care from your state government.

PLEASE RESPOND TO CLASSMATE DISCUSSION WHETHER YOU AGREE OR NOT & A DETAILED WHY: Common Laws role in health care in the United States enforced the rights of patients privacy regarding their health records and who can have access to them. Even from doctor to doctor patient permission is required. It also requires complete transparency and explanation of care and treatment options that the providers deem necessary for the patient. The patient will have all of the facts and risks explained to them.

Check and balances is to make sure that the three branches of government, executive, judicial and legislative, will not be able to over power each other and will have to be justified in decisions made. The goal was to prevent a tyrannical reign and eliminate the risk of absolute power by any one person or house.

Medicare benefit decisions are always a hot topic in the government and seems to always be up for debate. Without a checks and balances requirement I do believe Medicare would have been ended a long time ago.

When a pharmaceutical company wants to test a new drug they must go through the Federal drug Administration (FDA) to obtain permission to do so. They will be heavily monitored and be required to submit lengthy documentation that could stretch out into years. Even after that there is no guarantee that it will be be approved for public consumption.

• Use the Internet to research the Supreme Court’s review of the Affordable Health Care Act and the Supreme Court’s review of two (2) healthcare cases involving stare decisis.

Part B – “The Courts” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, analyze the Federal court decisions in regards to the Affordable Health Care Act. Debate the extent to which the Supreme Court’s decisions have affected healthcare policy in your community. Provide (2) specific examples to support your rationale.
• From the third e-Activity, analyze the concepts of stare decisis and their effect on health care related judicial decisions. Interpret this legal term in relationship to (2) health care related cases. Support your response with specific examples.

PLEASE RESPOND TO CLASSMATE DISCUSSION WHETHER YOU AGREE OR NOT & A DETAILED WHY: Debate the extent to which the Supreme Court’s decisions have affected healthcare policy in your community. Provide two (2) specific examples to support your rationale.

When it comes to life changes that were made through the Affordable Healthcare Act there are many. One thing that stuck out the most was the fact the you had to have health insurance it was required whether it was through your employer or if it was through by a private company. If the insurance was not purchase through one of those options, you were penalized at the end of the year when you filed your taxes. You had to pay a fine to the IRS. That price could in fact vary depending on your situation. Which to me it felt unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court decision towards Medicaid was determined and was the also affected by this act the increase of enrollment has grown.

When it comes to life changes that were made through the Affordable Healthcare Act there are many. One thing that stuck out the most was the fact the you had to have health insurance it was required whether it was through your employer or if it was through by a private company. If the insurance was not purchase through one of those options, you were penalized at the end of the year when you filed your taxes. You had to pay a fine to the IRS. That price could in fact vary depending on your situation. Which to me it felt unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court decision towards Medicaid was determined and was the also affected by this act the increase of enrollment has grown.

• From the e-Activity, analyze the concepts of state decisis and their effect on health care related judicial decisions. Interpret this legal term in relationship to two (2) health care related cases. Support your response with specific examples.

Stare decisis is a policy of the courts to stand by existing legal precedent; that is, where rules of law have been established in prior judicial decisions, these decisions should be adhered to in subsequent cases where the questions of law and fact are substantially similar to those in the original case. Stare decisis means let it stand. The healthcare has changed tremendously through the years.