HealthLawRegulationandPolicy.docx - Health Law Regulation Running head HEALTH LAW REGULATION AND POLICY Health Law Regulation and Policy Merri Homp

Health Law, Regulation 1 Running head: HEALTH LAW, REGULATION AND POLICY Health Law, Regulation and Policy Merri Homp University of Phoenix HCS 545 Charles Barron

Health Law, Regulation and Policy George Soros was once quoted to say “Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society,” (BrainyQuote). A very apropos statement about health care and the laws/policies relating to the U.S. health care system. In this paper, the laws and polices relating to the Affordable Care Act will be discussed. In addition to that, this paper will analyze laws and how the government addresses the legislative aspects of laws. The Affordable Care Act a.k.a. “ObamaCare” is a “US healthcare reform law that expands and improves access to care and curbs spending through regulations and taxes. The Affordable Care Act’s main focus is on providing more Americans with access to affordable health insurance, improving the quality of health care and health insurance, regulating the health insurance industry, and reducing health care spending in the US.” (Obamacarefacts.com) Those goals of the ACA include providing benefits to Americans relating to their health care. It created the Health Insurance Marketplace, which was a one stop location to find and purchase health insurance. Expanding Medicare and Medicaid programs to many needy such as those with long term disabilities. Required employers to provide coverage to their employers. If those who did not purchase an insurance, were penalized or had to file for an exemption. Finally the ACA introduced new taxes and tax breaks to those who qualified. This is a very simplified version of what the ACA’s goals are. (Obamacarefacts.com) Laws and Policies

There are many ways to understand health law. Health care laws focus on the judicial, legislative, and executive rules and regulations that govern the health care commerce. Anyone or anything that is considered healthcare; hospitals, public and private insurers, pharmaceutical, etc., are included under these laws. Collectively these bodies function within all of these laws and regulations. Those laws include fraud, food and drug, medical malpractice, mergers and acquisitions. In health care there are both laws and policies that must be adhered to. (Washington College of Law) Health care policies are different. They provide guidelines to achieve specific goals that may include future health care laws. “Health policy refers to decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific health care goals within a society. An explicit health policy can achieve several things: it defines a vision for the future which in turn helps to establish targets and points of reference for the short and medium term. It outlines priorities and the expected roles of different groups; and it builds consensus and informs people,” (Washington College of Law).