Health care reform expanded health insurance to millions, but current community benefit policies must be used by organizations hoping to address social determinants.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(3):E248-258. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.248.
Carmel Shachar, JD, MPH and Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, LLB, PhD
Legal approaches to preserving social stability, maintaining trust, supporting therapeutic research opportunities, or diminishing disease severity deserve ethical scrutiny.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(1):E36-42. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.36.
Jennifer Aldrich, MD, Jessica Kant, MSW, LICSW, MPH, and Eric Gramszlo
Estelle v Gamble (1976) reiterates that the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution requires adequate care to be offered to all people who are incarcerated.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(6):E407-413. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.407.
An undercurrent in all debates about allocation of health care resources to the poor is the matter of access to and coverage of health care for immigrants, particularly low-income and undocumented ones.
The ACA’s major changes to health insurers’ practices, which include requirements for adequate and affordable health insurance coverage, have resulted in a substantial reduction in the number of uninsured people in the US.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(8):754-759. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.8.hlaw1-1508.
In King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court determined that the phrase “an Exchange established by the State” in the Affordable Care Act includes exchanges created by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), thereby rendering users of HHS exchanges eligible to receive subsidies.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):938-944. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.hlaw1-1510.
Because the number of patients undergoing genetic testing is increasing, medical staff should be conscientious about their patients' potential needs for genetic counseling and be ready to advise patients on communicating their diagnoses to at-risk family members or refer them to genetic counselors.
While critics of section 6001 of the ACA warn that it will debilitate an important competitive force in the marketplace, it does not categorically eliminate further development of the physician-owned hospital industry.
The most controversial component of the ACA has arguably been the mandate that group health plans cover contraception costs, which has elicited backlash from religious and conservative groups who believe it violates certain employers' religious freedoms.