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A Brief Introduction to Medicare and the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals
Get PDFMedicare is a single-payer federal program providing health insurance for individuals ages 65 and older, those meeting the definition for permanent disability within the Social Security Act, 1 and those with end-stage renal disease.2 Medicare also covers care that is both reasonable and necessary in connection with the diagnosis and treatment of the underlying illness or injury.3 Medicare evolved from the Social Security Act over the course of three decades. The original Social Security Act4 was drafted between 1934 and 1935 by the Committee on Economic Security;5 the Committee during the first term of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, had been under the oversight of United States Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins
West Virginia\u27s Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act: The "Mountain State\u27s" Latest Attempt to Quit its Addiction to Coal
Get PDFThis note\u27s purpose is to objectively analyze West Virginia\u27s recently enacted Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act ("AREPA") to determine whether it is the most ambitious alternative and renewable energy legislation that West Virginia can enact given its current political climate. Although coal may currently provide substantial economic benefits to West Virginia, future reliance on coal resources will be detrimental to the state\u27s overall welfare due to dwindling coal reserves and coal\u27s hazardous effects on the environment and public health. Because of coal\u27s negative public health and environmental effects, coalmining states face tremendous federal, state, and local pressures to implement cleaner energy production methods. In 2009, West Virginia enacted AREPA to quell some of these mounting concerns. The legislation, however, has an unusually permissive definition of "alternative" energy sources and technologies and has no minimum requirement for renewable energy. In order to truly diversify from coal, the West Virginia Legislature should amend its "renewable energy resources" standard to require that at least twenty percent of its energy portfolio come from actual renewable energy sources by 2025. The legislature must also amend AREPA to exclude many of the most heavily polluting "alternative" energy sources instead of ensuring their continued existence and harm to the state. Because of West Virginia\u27s dwindling coal reserves, the state\u27s wealth of renewable energy resources, and a growing anti-coal movement, the Mountain State should diversify fromcoal-based energy resources and establish an appropriate alternative energy portfolio standard that is more heavily geared towards truly promoting renewable energy
If Words Could Kill: Can the Government Regulate Any Online Speech?
Get PDFFrom the inception of American jurisprudence, an individual’s right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution 1 has been given some of the strongest protection available.2 The most celebrated legal minds in American history have consistently advocated the necessity of an open and honest exchange of ideas as fundamental to democratic society,3 even when the ideas expressed may be unpopular or of little value.4 Nonetheless, it is equally well-established that not all speech is protected, particularly where the speech in question poses a threat to public order.5 Although First Amendment law continues to evolve, the media available to Americans wishing to express their ideas seem to be evolving exponentially faster, particularly in the forum provided by the Internet.6 Indeed, the vast expansion and availability of Internet media seem to continually outstrip the much more gradual evolution of the law, not only in the United States but worldwide
The Octo Mom Meets Constitutional Law: Testing the Constitutionality of Restricting Fertility Treatments
Get PDFOn 26 January 2009, Nadya Suleman gave birth to eight children. 1 The public outpouring of support quickly turned into widespread condemnation as more information about Ms. Suleman’s multiple pregnancies and financial situation was released.2 Once the public learned not only that Ms. Suleman had six other children but also that all fourteen children had been conceived using in vitro fertilization, the public began to question both her judgment and the judgment of her doctor.3 The public apparently was willing to accept the birth if it was the non-deliberate product of a hormone-based fertility treatment but was less willing to accept the birth if it was the result of a deliberate choice on the part of Ms. Suleman and her physician
The Evolution of NEPA in the Fight Against Climate Change
Get PDFThe National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) is the first environmental charter of the United States. 1 Signed into law on January 1, 1970, NEPA addresses the need for overarching national environmental guidance in the country. During the course of its forty year history, NEPA has been used to challenge a wide range of federal actions including the issuance of operating permits under the Clean Air Act,2 the approval of forest management plans approved under the National Forest Management Act,3 the construction of highways under the Federal-Aid Highways Act,4 and the issuance of oil leases under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.5 Given the breadth of NEPA’s applicability, it was inevitable that NEPA would become a tool to combat climate change. The use of NEPA to require federal agencies to take a “hard look” at greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions makes perfect sense because many federal actions directly or indirectly contribute to GHG emissions. Since 1990, in City of Los Angeles v. NHTSA,6 plaintiffs have used NEPA, successfully and unsuccessfully, to challenge federal actions that might have an impact on the global climate
Universal Healthcare and Access for Undocumented Immigrants
Get PDFNothing can rouse fury in even the most apathetic voter or stir the vitriol of American political discourse like the healthcare debate. From the run-up to the 2008 Presidential Election—when then-Senator Barack Obama made the creation of a revamped healthcare system the crux of his platform—through the present, the President’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) has been under siege. Obstreperous members of Congress on both sides of the debate levied traditional lines of criticism, concerning themselves with the law’s perceived socialist leaning 1 or the associated financial burden.2 Still other critics believe the healthcare plan will grant undocumented immigrants unmerited access to the benefits of a public healthcare system. Collectively, the narrative surrounding the healthcare debate has been so overly contentious and hostile as to obviate any remaining comity within the political discourse surrounding the problem. 3 But, behind all this white noise and livid rhetoric there still remains the central issue: without an adequate proposal that addresses the undocumented immigrant ‘problem,’ President Obama’s healthcare plan is incomplete
The Fight over Fizz: Soda Taxes as a Means of Curbing Childhood Obesity
Get PDFWhen Michelle Obama found her way to the White House as First Lady, she was a woman with a mission—to help children live healthier lives and tackle childhood obesity. In speaking of this endeavor, the First Lady stated: “In the end, as First Lady, this isn’t just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition.” 2 Mrs. Obama’s dedication to this effort was not just talk. Her mission and passion led to the establishment of a federal campaign to fight childhood obesity and promote the education of children on health and nutrition known as Let’s Move.3 Additionally, the First Lady’s efforts have been supported by the actions of her husband, President Barack Obama.4 President Obama’s commitment to this mission was first evidenced by his signature to the creation of the first ever federal Task Force on Childhood Obesity simultaneously with the development of the Let’s Move campaign.5 Based on research done by this Task Force, it was recommended that Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move campaign focused on the following four principles: 1. empowering parents and caregivers, 2. providing healthy food in schools, 3. improving access to healthy, affordable foods, and 4. increasing physical activity
Conte v. Wyeth: Caveat Innovator and the Case for Perpetual Liability in Drug Labeling
Get PDFSince the citadel of privity first crumbled for manufacturers of defective products decades ago, state and federal courts have expanded the foundations of products liability law to include not only purchasers as plaintiffs but “ultimate” bystanders under notions of reasonableness, foreseeability and risk allocation. 3 During this time, products such as drugs, blood products and medical devices have come to be viewed as distinct from other commodities, particularly with the coming of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability