LAW - 719A Health Law Legislative and Regulatory Process

(2 hrs.)

This course focuses on legal analysis and problem-solving in one of the most active and controversial public policy areas: health law. While policy details and substantive law will be an important part of the course, its primary goal is for students to understand the legislative and regulatory processes by which health policy is made and implemented and to prepare them to effectively advocate for a particular policy position in those settings. The course will focus on understanding the rules governing the legislative and regulatory processes, developing analytical skills to understand the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of particular policy decisions, and understanding the political and legal dynamics of legislation and agency rulemaking. We will apply these tools to current policy debates in health law and policy. For Spring 2021, the course will focus on four case studies: (1) federal, state, and local orders mandating social distancing and face covering and related litigation; (2) development and distribution of vaccines and compulsory vaccination requirements; (3) litigation challenging the ACA and steps the federal executive branch and state and local governments can take to secure health care accessibility and affordability; and (4) health justice, including race, sex, and gender identity discrimination in health care, action on the social determinants of health, and racism as a public health issue. The course will feature several high-profile guest teachers with expertise in these areas.