Health Law and Regulation

Health Law and Regulation

Federal laws and regulations play an important part in the health care industry. These laws and regulations protect citizens from health risks and have programs that are set up for public welfare. Within organizations regulatory agencies have done surveys that look to see what can better the organization along with the employees. That purpose is to focus on area that need improvement along with promoting better health access to the community. These regulatory agencies serve authority positions within the community from the Food and Drug Administration, Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Health and Human Services, or HIPAA, to name a few. There are many examples of regulations and laws currently faced in health care there will be at least two discussed. There will be an analysis of the health care regulations and laws that affect daily lives and community.

Roles

Within each division it consists of sub-divisions. These sub-divisions make up the health system in an intricate maze. There are 10 main operating agencies a few of those are; the Administration for Children and Families or ACF. The ACF provides services for child support, family assistance, and childcare. These support services comes from state, county, and city. The Administration for Community Living or ACL is for elderly and disabled people who needs help with independence in his or her home and with health care. The ACL also develops, coordinates, and makes sure it is cost-efficacious (Sebelius, 2013). The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality or AHRQ conducts research in hopes of improvement of quality health care by lowering costs and addressing any patient safety concerns. There are two not for-profit accreditation agencies that work with AHRQ. These are the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Health Care Organizations or JCAHO and National Committee for Quality Assurance or NCQA. Both JCAHO and NCQA share information that is found from the research with AHRQ (Sebelius, 2013).

The Centers for Disease and Control or CDC looks at public health and will warn in the event of a possible health threat in the cases of infectious diseases. The CDC also monitors genetic research, birth defects, emergency preparedness, vaccines, and safety in the workplace. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services or CMS was founded in 1965, the CMS controls some regulations related to the delivery of health care and health care cost control measures. CMS also is responsible for HIPAA compliance and administration of Medicaid, Medicare, and State Children's Health Fund or CHIP (Rouse, 2010). The Food and Drug Administration or FDA is a Federal regulatory agency responsible for the control, safety and efficacy of the drugs administered in the United States for animals and humans (Sebelius, 2013). The FDA does not just monitor and control the drugs but also food, inspections in restaurants, and cosmetic ingredients.

Laws, Regulations, and Analysis

Compared to other countries the United States health costs are three times higher (Health Care Spending in the United States & Selected OECD Countries, 2011). Readmission rates in the United States are on the rise usually within 30 days from discharge. It is known for quite some time that President Obama has been making changes to health care and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or PPACA first regulation chosen. This act was to make several changes and provisions to reduce hospital readmissions that is preventable, is one of those. One change is that it will reduce payments to hospitals who have higher readmission rates. Another provision of the law included patient care for those with chronic illnesses during the primary hospital stay and post-discharge follow-up care provided by the hospital.

In 1996 a privacy rule was implemented by the government. This privacy rule is known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA and second regulation chosen. This was created as a health reform to ensure that individual health information is protected. The main goal was to create a balance between protecting the privacy of the person and to promote quality care for those individuals who seek medical care. The HIPAA law applies health facilities, health insurance, providers, or anyone who handles health information. With HIPAA some entities are required coverage is that it prevents organizations from giving out personal medical information to the public. This requires every office to have its own staff members properly trained regarding HIPAA policies. HIPAA protects the patient in rights to maintain health insurance and protect him or her from denial of health insurance from a pre-existing health condition. Before there was HIPAA employers could deny employees insurance coverage to anyone who had a pre-existing condition.

Since HIPAA has been around it has shaped the way organizations operate and how an organization upholds security and privacy of its patients. Organizations have to comply with HIPAA otherwise they will fall into violation, which can lead to penalties