Health Law Outlook

Publication Overview

The Health Law Outlook (HLO), a subsidiary of the Health Law Forum for students interested in health policy, hosts regular round-table discussions about current topics in the healthcare field. Each semester, HLO presents healthcare issues using debate, brainstorming, presentation, and Socratic method formats. Many of the articles included in newsletters are the product of these meetings and discussion.

Send questions or comments about the HLO to: shu.outlook@gmail.com

Past Issues

Past issues should appear in the column to the right. Click on the links to access a pdf version of the HLO.

Submission Guidelines

Manuscript – two to five pages, double-spaced. Your best attempt at Bluebook format. All facts must be cited!
Clip art / graphs / charts / etc. to accompany your piece in the newsletter. (Check to make sure that we are free to use the image.)
Brief Biography – Please write (in third person) a 3-5 sentence blurb about yourself. The bios will go on the back page of the newsletter.
Headshot – These accompany your bios. Please send us a headshot of yourself in a business attire top (collared shirts, sweaters, suit jackets…you get the idea). If you already have a corporate headshot, you can send it to us. If we already have a headshot of you that we’ve used in a previous issue of HLO and you would like us to use it again, let us know. Finally, if you need one of us to take a picture of you, please let us know.

Health Care Politics: Romney's 'Day One Repeal' Pledge Lacks Specifics, Michelle Obama Steers Clear Of Some Health Issues May 20, 2012
Meanwhile, "surrogates" for the president and Romney campaign discussed significant differences in the two men's approaches to economic policy. […]
Second Guessing Medicare's Star Rating System May 20, 2012
Supporters say the bonus system is improving care for millions of seniors, but critics say it can be a clumsy measure of value and rewards mediocrity. […]
Sebelius At Georgetown Calls For 'Conversation and Compromise' May 19, 2012
In a graduation speech, the HHS secretary didn't mention the controversy over the mandate for contraception coverage but she told students that public policy debates "can be painful." […]
GOP Stakeholders Have Different Views For Health Law Strategies May 18, 2012
News outlets report Republican lawmakers' conflicting views as they wait for the Supreme Court's decision on its constitutionality. Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports that the fate of the nation's "uninsurables" is tied to what the justices decide. […]
As Presidential Campaign Ads Hit The Airwaves, Health Policies Have Big Role May 18, 2012
The general election TV ad released by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign touts the candidates first-day plan to "move to replace" the health law with "common sense health reform." Also in the news, President Barack Obama's campaign rebuts an attack ad by Crossroads GPS. […]

TEDMED 2012: Atul Butte
Supporters of the Big Data movement argue that data will change everything, but only once we break down the institutional and technological barriers that prevent us from getting at it. In his talk at TEDMED 2012 at the Kennedy Center, Stanford’s Atul Butte argues that the we already have more than enough to do real […]
June: A Big Month For ACO Watchers
By GREGG MASTERS As we trudge forward into various iterations of what and how ‘accountable care’ strategies can be sensibly configured and locally seeded for Medicare, Medicaid as well as commercial markets, attention is often focused on the ‘necessary’ but ‘not sufficient’ contribution(s) from health information technology (HIT). It is rare that a conversat […]
Expand Over-the-Counter Medications? Very Bad Idea
By Marc Siegel, MD The Food and Drug Administration is considering removing prescription requirements for medications that treat common conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, migraines and high cholesterol. This means that you would be able to go to your local pharmacy, fill out a questionnaire, receive a diagnosis and purchase a medicati […]
Pete Seeger’s Blues
By Michael Millenson There I was, going one-by-one through a list of doctor and hospital groups that had volunteered to be one of the “accountable care organizations” authorized by health care reform, when I inexplicably found myself breaking into song. I know: it’s a really strange way to react to ACOs, but bear with me. […]
Shame
By Rob Lamberts, MD I saw a gentleman in my office recently. He was having severe pain radiating from his lower back, down to his calf. I was about to describe my plan to him when he interrupted me saying, “I know, Doc, I am overweight. I know that this would just get better if […]