Recent Developments in Health Law and Ethics in the United States

2018年 12/19（水）

12:00～13:00 東京大学 本郷キャンパス 医 学 部 3 号館 4 階 S408室

● 使用言語：英語 ● 事前予約不要 ● 参加無料

The current administration in Washington is try-ing to reverse the health reforms that were made during the previous administration of President Obama. In Congress, the Republican majority failed by one vote to repeal President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), but they did succeed in repealing the financial penalty for not having health insur-ance. In the midterm election of November 6, 2018, the Democratic Party succeeded in gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and that will prevent Congress from repealing the rest of the ACA.

Nevertheless, the current President is using the power of the Executive Branch of government to re-duce the effectiveness of the ACA, and to reduce the number of people who will be covered by compre-hensive health insurance. For example, the Execu-tive Branch (1) made it more difficult for people to

enroll for coverage on an ACA insurance market (an “exchange”); (2) wants to allow people to buy cheap health insurance that does not provide complete benefits (“junk insurance”); and (3) wants to allow state governments to “opt-out” of the ACA’s require-ments for comprehensive health insurance benefits.

Meanwhile, the current administration in Wash-ington has also been taking steps to reduce access to reproductive health services within the United States. These steps include (1) nominating justices for the U.S. Supreme Court who could overrule the landmark abortion-rights case of Roe v. Wade; (2) proposing to expand the “conscience rights” of workers in health care facilities; and (3) expanding the number of em-ployers that may refuse (on religious or moral grounds) to provide health insurance coverage of contraceptives for their employees.

This seminar will expand on these issues, and will provide updated information on the status of these legal and ethical issues.

Dean M. Harris, J.D. Associate Professor

The University of North Carolina