Our health shapes our lives, our opportunities, and our communities. How nations provide healthcare can enhance or hinder nearly all other aspects of society – including the economy, employment, education, the environment, and civil rights. Law and policy are integral to the development of healthcare systems, but their use can both promote and hinder improvements in health outcomes. This three-day intensive course aims to engage students in critical reflection on the development and coordination of domestic health systems and the use of law and policy to shape and reform those systems. More broadly, the course covers a range of issues of significance to domestic health systems, including access to affordable health care, public health preparedness, health equity, climate change, the balance of individual rights with state power, and the obligations of nations to their citizens in times of crisis.
The class will first explore why and to what extent nations should value the health of their population. Next, the course will introduce different models of domestic health systems along with their founding assumptions and underlying principles. Then students will analyse the key features, strengths, and weaknesses of different national health systems, focusing in particular on systems in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, and Australia, among others. The class will then introduce and analyse the critical role that law and policy play in the design and reform of health care systems and how legislators, regulators, and the courts can shape the health of a nation. Finally, students will collaborate in groups to develop a presentation proposing specific reforms to address an existing challenge in a domestic healthcare system.
Materials for this class will include a diverse array of academic scholarship from legal, economic, medical, health policy, and health services research sources, as well as government materials including legislation, regulations, guidance documents, and caselaw.