Savanna Williams ‘21
Guest Writer
When I came to law school, it was explicitly with the goal of practicing health law. But in reality, I did not know what this dream of mine looked like. All I knew was that I am passionate about healthcare reform and that I wanted to understand the law generally before attempting to change it.
So, what is health law, anyway?
Health law focuses on the rules and regulations that govern the health care industry. The health care industry includes hospitals, hospital systems, health care providers, insurers, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, individual healthcare providers, and group providers like nursing homes, psychiatric centers, acute care centers, and health maintenance organizations. Some of the regulations health lawyers work with include the Stark Law, HIPAA, the Anti-Kickback Statute, EMTALA, and individual state privacy laws.
What do health lawyers do?
Health lawyers in private practice work across the full spectrum of law, from litigation to transactional to regulatory work. Healthcare litigation most obviously includes medical malpractice but can also include litigating fraud and abuse claims, reimbursement matters, or antitrust issues. In the transactional realm, healthcare lawyers serve as subject matter expert deal support, evaluating general corporate matters like tax, antitrust, and contract negotiation issues. On the regulatory side, healthcare lawyers might provide guidance on Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, confidentiality, or health reform issues. Health lawyers also represent healthcare providers before state and federal agencies that regulate the industry.
In the public sector, healthcare lawyers might work for government agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or Veterans Affairs. In-house opportunities include hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, or insurance.
This opaqueness about what health law is comprised of is what drove me to run for president of the Health Law Association. Our goals are to:
· Explain what health law is;
· Give students a better view of the different areas of health law;
· Introduce available health law-related classes; and
· Promote a healthy law school environment.
Previous Events
This fall, we hosted a meet and greet with the health law-adjacent professors in order to give students, especially 1Ls, an idea of what classes they might take if they were interested in practicing health law. A common area of confusion is when students have an interest in a particular field of law, but they do not know what courses to take in order to reach that goal. We hoped to remove some of that ambiguity by having each of the professors talk about their course offerings in the coming semesters. We hope that this helped with course planning, not just next semester, but for a holistic law school career.
In addition to the professors, we also had Michaela Lieberman, co-director of the Health & Disability Law Clinic, speak about clinic opportunities. This year-long clinic offers students firsthand experience and insight into how health law touches in the individual patient, which we often forget about in the private practice setting where your clients are predominantly health care systems.
I also had the chance to speak at a University Democrats meeting on Main Grounds earlier this semester about the vastness of health law and how to translate an interest in healthcare reform and policy into a legal career. One of my big goals as president is to expand our membership beyond the walls of the Law School, because health law is something that truly touches all of us. Since that meeting, we have recruited regular attendees of HLA events from Main Grounds.
Upcoming Events and Goals
Next semester, we are planning a healthcare reform debate in advance of the March primaries. It goes without saying that healthcare reform is at the forefront of the election news cycle, and we hope to shed some light on the legal status of the Affordable Care Act and the legal implications of candidates’ proposed reforms.
At the Shaping Justice conference, we are co-sponsoring a panel with Lamda that focuses on Disability Rights Advocacy: 30 Years After the Americans with Disabilities Act. We are also co-sponsoring an event on maternal health with If/When/How and another on food labeling with FLAVA. We are always looking for co-sponsorship opportunities, so if your organization is interested in planning something healthcare-focused, please reach out!
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sbw5va@virginia.edu