Beyond Politics: A Social and Cultural History of Federal Healthcare Conscience Protections

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 620-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Parr
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Patient Access ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Health And Human Services ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
History Of

The day before the inauguration of his Democratic successor, President George W. Bush oversaw the promulgation of an administrative rule that extended “sweeping” new conscience protections to healthcare providers, one which would allow them to refuse to participate in or refuse to refer for medical services to which they morally or religiously object. Enacted in a funding regulation through the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), the rule – commonly called the Provider Conscience Regulation (“Regulation”) – purported to clarify and implement existing federal law; by its own terms; however, the Regulation pushed the boundaries of those laws, granting protections to a broader class of individuals and across a wider range of services. In so doing, the Regulation sought to resolve an ongoing tension between patient access and provider autonomy, yet it served to reignite a long-standing debate over the proper role of morals in medicine.

Treatment of Disabled Infants

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-572
Author(s):  
PAUL F. WEHRLE
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Health And Human Services ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Baby Doe ◽  
The Government ◽  
Role Of Parents ◽  
Seriously Ill

In Reply.— I am concerned that the Academy's position on treatment decisions regarding seriously ill newborns may have been construed to be one in alliance with the government's hard-line stand on interventionism and insistence upon treatment. It has always been our position that neither the government nor the courts should interfere in decisions best made by parents in consultation with medical professionals. The Academy is as committed to this concept today as it was when it first challenged the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and successfully struck down the first "Baby Doe" rule which ignored the role of parents in this critical decision-making arena.

Examining the use of ‘natural’ in breastfeeding promotion: ethical and practical concerns

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 615-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Martucci ◽  
Anne Barnhill
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Breast Milk ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Breastfeeding Promotion ◽  
Health And Human Services ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Natural Way

References to the ‘natural’ are common in public health messaging about breastfeeding. For example, the WHO writes that ‘Breast milk is the natural first food for babies’ and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a breastfeeding promotion campaign called ‘It’s only natural’, which champions breastfeeding as the natural way to feed a baby. This paper critically examines the use of ‘natural’ language in breastfeeding promotion by public health and medical bodies. A pragmatic concern with selling breastfeeding as ‘natural’ is that this may reinforce the already widespread perspective that natural options are presumptively healthier, safer and better, a view that works at cross-purposes to public health and medicine in other contexts. An additional concern is that given the history of breastfeeding in the USA, ‘natural’ evokes specific and controversial conceptions of gender and motherhood.

The Burwell roadmap

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 544-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua A Hirsch ◽  
Thabele M Leslie-Mazwi ◽  
Robert M Barr ◽  
Geraldine McGinty ◽  
Gregory N Nicola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Services ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Delivery Of Healthcare ◽  
Health And Human Services ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Payment Incentives ◽  
Medicare Program ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time

In January 2015 the current Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) outlined a bold initiative to shape the delivery of healthcare through a set of strategies aimed at improving the quality of care and reducing the growth of healthcare costs. The strategies include increasing payment incentives tied to higher value care, increasing care coordination and integration, and increasing access to information to guide patients and clinicians. Significantly, the proposal includes specific goals for alternative payment models and value-based payments for the first time in the history of the Medicare program.

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