Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care
Columbia 2, North Tower/Lobby Level, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
Comparative Health Law: What Can the U.S. Learn from Other Countries?
(Program to be published in Journal of Health Care Law & Policy)
As a nation, we face significant decisions about the operation of our health care system ranging from how to expand access to adequate health care while controlling the growth of health care expenditures to how to compensate victims of malpractice and reduce the incidence of serious public health problems. Other countries are struggling with similar issues. Whether we can learn from the experiences of other nations is a source of controversy. Some argue that the unique political structures, cultural beliefs and values of a country control the decisions it makes regarding its health care system and preclude adoption of similar decisions by other countries. Others argue that scrutinizing the laws and policies of other countries as they relate to the delivery and regulation of health care may elevate the quality of discourse in this country regarding those issues. This panel of comparative health law and policy scholars will address the role of national values, history and social institutions in shaping a country's decisions regarding its health care system and the extent to which idiosyncratic beliefs and structures control those decisions. The panel will address both traditional health care system issues of financing and access as well as more controversial bioethics and public health issues and what lessons, if any, the United States can learn from other countries.
Business Meeting at Program Conclusion.
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