Impact of Healthcare Laws
- The constitution of United States of America guarantees liberty, life and pursuit of happiness to its citizens. Health care is one of the fundamental rights that the constitution protects. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act is necessitates a medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment for all the patients presented at any emergency department across the United States of America. The ethical principle guiding delivery of quality care to the patients that require emergency attendance despite the challenges is the distributive justice. The challenges that tend to threaten this care include inadequate community resource, insufficient capacity and underinsured and un-insured. The emergency physician has to resolve the obligation that he has of ensuring that he/she delivers the obligations owed to the patient and the institution. The obligations to the institution, care providers, oneself and colleagues may pose a challenge to the delivery of quality care. The physician may make delay in making decisions because of the obligations to the institution, which might even lead to loss of lives. Patient autonomy or individual decision-making is also helps in defining clinical encounter.
- Memorial may have violated Clayton Act by initiating an agreement with Careco. They initiated the agreement and forbid Careco from contracting with other hospitals in Iowa. It also violated the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits healthcare organizations to engage in interstate commerce. The specific concerns of health include prices where the health care facilities may hike prices because many people require health care ('USDOJ: Antitrust Division Antitrust Laws and You', 2014). If the health care facilities increase the prices, it will put many people at a disadvantage position because of its high demand. Memorial can defend itself against an antitrust action if it provides sufficient evidence that it provided affordable care to the patients.
References
Fremgen, B. F. (2012). Medical law and ethics. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson.
USDOJ: Antitrust Division Antitrust Laws and You. (2014). Justice.gov. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/atr/about/antitrust-laws.htmlBottom of Form
