National Health Law Program

Last updated
National Health Law Program
AbbreviationNHeLP
Formation1969
Founded at Los Angeles, California
TypeNonprofit organization
PurposeHealth and civil rights advocacy
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Location
  • United States
Executive Director
Elizabeth G. Taylor
Revenue (2021)
$11,635,405
Website www.healthlaw.org

The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) is a nonprofit legal and policy advocacy organization founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969. The mission of the organization is to protect and advance the health and civil rights of low-income and undeserved individuals and families in the United States. [1] The organization addresses these rights through litigation, policy advocacy, and technical assistance to state partners.

Contents

History

The National Health Law Program was initially established as a backup legal center by Ruth and Milton Roemer at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1969. [1] The original name of program was the National Legal Program on Health Problems of the Poor, and was funded through a grant from the federal Office of Economic Opportunity. The initial goals of the organization were to provide legal research, teaching and training for lawyers interested in public interest law. [2] Over its history, the organization has added active offices in Washington, D.C. and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in addition to California.

Activities

NHeLP employs attorneys and policy experts with experience in health law and civil rights. The organization's attorneys litigate in partnership with state health advocacy groups primarily on behalf of low-income, disabled or other underserved clients. NHeLP's policy attorneys and experts provide national leadership on regulatory and legislative advocacy to defend and advance access to care for low-income and underserved communities across the United States. Specialty areas include non-discrimination rights and enforcement, Medicaid and Medicare eligibility, mental health, disability law, sexual and reproductive health, health insurance eligibility and enrollment, health care services, and delivery system reform. Additionally, NHeLP is assisted by pro bono partners who assist with litigation. [3] The organization also identifies national cases of interest in health law to submit amicus curiae briefs, to express and advocate for certain legal arguments in outside cases.

Impact and achievements

Clinton health care reform effort

During the first term of President Bill Clinton, NHeLP advocated for the administration's proposal to reform the U.S. health care system. [4] The proposal, which among other things would have extended health coverage to low-income Americans, ultimately did not gain sufficient support in the 103rd United States Congress to become law. [5] [6]

Affordable Care Act

NHeLP supported passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. [7] The organization worked with the Obama administration and the 111th Congress to provide input on the law, notably Section 1557, its non-discrimination provision. [8] [9] It was the first time that health care discrimination was prohibited on the basis of sex. Since the law's passage, the organization has also engaged in various advocacy and legal efforts to maintain or further expand the law. For example, NHeLP has filed amicus curiae briefs arguing to uphold the law and associated rulemaking efforts in each of the major Supreme Court challenges since passage: National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012), [10] King v. Burwell (2015) [11] and California v. Texas (2021). [12] [13]

Civil rights and cultural competency in health care

NHeLP has researched standards for ensuring appropriate linguistic and cultural competency standards in health care. [14] NHeLP's review of state law requirements and Medicaid managed care contract language at the state level was referenced by the federal HHS Office of Minority Health during the development of the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (CLAS Standards). [15] [16]

The standards were first released in 2000, with NHeLP among several partners helping to update them in 2010. [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Department of Health and Human Services</span> Department of the US federal government

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of the U.S. people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America". Before the separate federal Department of Education was created in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Medical Association</span> United States association of physicians and medical students

The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Sebelius</span> American politician (born 1948)

Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician who served as the 21st United States Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumental in overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Before becoming secretary, she served as the 44th governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the second woman to hold that office. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Sebelius was the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address and is chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors Association. She is CEO of Sebelius Resources LLC.

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) is a United States non-profit organization founded by Marcia Greenberger in 1972 and based in Washington, D.C. The Center advocates for women's rights and LGBTQ rights through litigation, policy, and culture change initiatives. It began when female administrative staff and law students at the Center for Law and Social Policy demanded that their pay be improved, that the center hire female lawyers, that they no longer be expected to serve coffee, and that the center create a women's program.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a national legal-advocacy organization representing people with mental disabilities in the United States. Originally known as The Mental Health Law Project, the Center was founded as a national public-interest organization in 1972 by a group of specialized attorneys and mental disability professionals who were working to help the court define a constitutional right to treatment in terms of specific standards for services and protections. In 1993, the organization changed its name to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law to honor the legacy of Judge David L. Bazelon, whose decisions as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had pioneered the field of mental health law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan H. Adler</span> American legal scholar

Jonathan H. Adler is an American legal commentator and law professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He has been recognized as one of the most cited professors in the field of environmental law. His research is also credited with inspiring litigation that challenged the Obama Administration's implementation of the Affordable Care Act, resulting in the Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell.

Legal Momentum, founded in 1970, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the nation's first and longest-serving legal advocacy group for women in the United States. Betty Friedan and Muriel Fox were its co-founders and Muriel Fox is an ongoing leader of the organization. Carol Baldwin Moody became President and CEO in April 2018. The organization, founded as the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, became Legal Momentum in 2004. Legal Momentum is a multi-issue organization dedicated to advancing women’s rights and gender equality, particularly in the areas of equal education opportunities; fairness in the courts; ending all forms of gender-based violence; workplace equality and economic empowerment. The organization employs three main strategies: impact litigation, policy advocacy, and educational initiatives. It is headquartered in New York City.

Wendy K. Mariner is an American academic who is the Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights in the Department of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights, at the Boston University School of Public Health. She is also a professor of law at Boston University School of Law and a professor of socio-medical sciences and community medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.

Established in 1977, Atlantic Legal Foundation, also known as ALF, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law firm that litigates individual liberty, deregulation, free enterprise, and private property rights. The foundation was started to pursue a “deep commitment to redressing the bias against business which manifests itself in favor of narrow ‘consumer’ or ‘environmental’ concerns.” ALF has argued against environmental and worker regulations promulgated by federal agencies and works to promote “school-choice”. Atlantic Legal provides legal representation, without fee, to certain individuals, corporations, trade associations, parents, scientists, and educators.

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice(NCLEJ), formerly known as the Welfare Law Center (WLC) from 1997-2006 and the Center for Social Welfare Policy and Law (CSWPL) from 1965-1997, is a US national non-profit organization dedicated to "advanc[ing] the cause of economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country." Specifically, NCLEJ advocates for the following causes: income security, access to employment, fair treatment, public accountability, access to justice, fair and safe workplaces, community action, and civic participation.

A contraceptive mandate is a government regulation or law that requires health insurers, or employers that provide their employees with health insurance, to cover some contraceptive costs in their health insurance plans.

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court upheld Congress's power to enact most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called Obamacare, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), including a requirement for most Americans to pay a penalty for forgoing health insurance by 2014. The Acts represented a major set of changes to the American health care system that had been the subject of highly contentious debate, largely divided on political party lines.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there have been numerous actions in federal courts to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation. They include challenges by states against the ACA, reactions from legal experts with respect to its constitutionality, several federal court rulings on the ACA's constitutionality, the final ruling on the constitutionality of the legislation by the U.S. Supreme Court in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, and notable subsequent lawsuits challenging the ACA. The Supreme Court upheld ACA for a third time in a June 2021 decision.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, abbreviated the HITECH Act, was enacted under Title XIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under the HITECH Act, the United States Department of Health and Human Services resolved to spend $25.9 billion to promote and expand the adoption of health information technology. The Washington Post reported the inclusion of "as much as $36.5 billion in spending to create a nationwide network of electronic health records." At the time it was enacted, it was considered "the most important piece of health care legislation to be passed in the last 20 to 30 years" and the "foundation for health care reform."

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is the principal advisory group to the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on policy development and provides coordination and support for HHS's strategic and policy planning, planning and development of legislation, program evaluation, data gathering, policy-related research, and regulatory program.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 (2014), is a landmark decision in United States corporate law by the United States Supreme Court allowing privately held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation that its owners religiously object to, if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest, according to the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. It is the first time that the Court has recognized a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief, but it is limited to privately held corporations. The decision does not address whether such corporations are protected by the free exercise of religion clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

King v. Burwell, 576 U.S. 473 (2015), was a 6–3 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States interpreting provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Court's decision upheld, as consistent with the statute, the outlay of premium tax credits to qualifying persons in all states, both those with exchanges established directly by a state, and those otherwise established by the Department of Health and Human Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medicaid coverage gap</span>

In the context of American public healthcare policy, the Medicaid coverage gap refers to uninsured people who do not qualify for marketplace assistance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reside in states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion under the ACA. People within this categorization have incomes above the eligibility limits for Medicaid set by their state of residence but fall below the federal poverty line (FPL), resulting in deficient access to affordable health insurance. As of March 2023, an estimated 1.9 million Americans in 10 states are within the Medicaid coverage gap according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Approximately 97 percent of this cohort lives in the Southern U.S., with a majority living in Texas and Florida; Texas has the largest population of people in the cohort, accounting for 41 percent of people in the coverage gap.

Zubik v. Burwell, 578 U.S. ___ (2016), was a case before the United States Supreme Court on whether religious institutions other than churches should be exempt from the contraceptive mandate, a regulation adopted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires non-church employers to cover certain contraceptives for their female employees. Churches are already exempt under those regulations. On May 16, 2016, the Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals ruling in Zubik v. Burwell and the six cases it had consolidated under that title and returned them to their respective courts of appeals for reconsideration.

The federal government of the United States has limited authority to act on education, and education policy serves to support the education systems of state and local governments through funding and regulation of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. The Department of Education serves as the primary government organization responsible for enacting federal education policy in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 "About Us". The National Health Law Program. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  2. ↑ Levin, Maya (January 1969). "1969 - Founding the National Health Law Program". National Health Law Program. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  3. ↑ "UNC School of Law, Pro Bono Program" (PDF). UNC School of Law. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  4. ↑ Morgan, Dan (1994-01-30). "Offshoot of War on Poverty Led Reform Effort". The Washington Post . p. A18. Retrieved 2022-01-30– via Proquest.
  5. ↑ Pear, Robert (1993-09-23). "Clinton's Health Plan: What the States Must Do; States Are Wary Partners In President's Big Venture". The New York Times . p. A23. Retrieved 2022-01-30– via Proquest.
  6. ↑ Clymer, Adam (1994-09-27). "The Health Care Debate: The Overview; National Health Program, President's Greatest Goal, Declared Dead in Congress". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  7. ↑ Levin, Maya (23 March 2010). "2010 - The Affordable Care Act". National Health Law Program. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  8. ↑ "White House Health Care Reform Meeting - C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  9. ↑ Sanger-Katz, Margot (2015-09-03). "Health Care Rules Proposed to Shield Transgender Patients From Bias". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-01-30– via Proquest.
  10. ↑ "Amicus: National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius and Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Supreme Court of the United States". National Health Law Program. 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  11. ↑ Perkins, Jane (28 January 2015). "Amicus Brief of AARP and NHeLP in King v. Burwell, U.S. Supreme Court". National Health Law Program. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  12. ↑ "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". www.supremecourt.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  13. ↑ Perkins, Jane; Somers, Sarah (13 May 2020). "Amicus: California v. Texas, U.S. Supreme Court". National Health Law Program. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  14. ↑ Youdelman, Mara K. (2008-03-01). "The Medical Tongue: U.S. Laws And Policies On Language Access". Health Affairs. 27 (2): 424–433. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.27.2.424. ISSN   0278-2715. PMID   18332499.
  15. ↑ "Final Report - National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care" (PDF). HHS Office of Minority Health. 2001-03-01. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  16. 1 2 "National CLAS Standards - The Office of Minority Health". minorityhealth.hhs.gov. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  17. ↑ "Health Equity Timeline". Office of Minority Health - Think Cultural Health. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.