Course Description
Although the United States likes to pride itself on having the most advanced medical care in the world, its residents' experiences diverge widely with respect to the care they receive, as well as their health status and outcomes. Health disparities based on race have received the most attention, but disparities also exist with respect to ethnicity, gender, disability status, and sexual minority status, among others. Nowhere have those disparities been more glaring than in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected communities of color and people with disabilities. Significant health disparities call into question both the justice and the quality of the U.S. health care system. What role does or could the law play in addressing these inequities? Conversely, how has the law contributed to them? This seminar provides students with an opportunity to explore in depth topics relating to the law's responses (and potential responses) to health inequality. While the seminar's central concern is with the law, readings and discussions will explore and integrate evidence and knowledge from multiple professional and academic disciplines. Topics covered might include, simply by way of example, health equity issues associated with Medicaid policy decisions; the ACA's contraceptive coverage mandate, gender equality, and religious liberty; disparities in insurance coverage and access to care for persons with mental illness; and health care providers' obligations to provide accommodations to disabled patients.