The First Fifty Years: Health Law's Greatest Hit

Abstract:     
In honor of the Syracuse Law Review's 50th Anniversary, this article considers various developments in health law and concludes that the passage of the Medicare amendments to the Social Security Act has had the most significant impact on the field. The article discusses the impact of Medicare on the culture of hospitals and their medical staffs, on the development and dissemination of new technologies, and on restructuring and reforming the industry in key areas, including fraud and abuse, patient dumping, organ donation, advance directives, patients' rights, and other agencies' regulation of health care providers.

Keywords: health law, Medicare

JEL Classification: I18, K32

Accepted Paper Series