The American Bar Association - The American Bar Association complete and easy guide to health care law: your guide to protecting your rights as a patient, dealing with hospitals, health insurance, medicare, and more

Points of view or opinions in this publication do not necessarily represent the official policies or positions of the American Bar Association.

This book is not a substitute for an attorney, nor does it attempt to answer all questions about all situations you may encounter.

Copyright 2001 by the American Bar Association

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The ABA complete and easy guide to health care law : your guide to protecting your rights as a patient, dealing with hospitals, health insurance, Medicare, and more / by the American Bar Association.1st ed.
1 . Medical careLaw and legislationUnited StatesPopular works.
I. American Bar Association.
KF3821.Z9 A22 2001
344.730321dc21

2001027350

eISBN: 978-0-676-79399-4

v3.1

Robert A. Stein
Executive Director

Sarina A. Butler
Associate Executive Director, Communications Group

Mabel C. McKinney-Browning
Director, Division for Public Education

Charles White
Series Editor

S TANDING C OMMITTEE ON P UBLIC E DUCATION
Allan J. Tanenbaum
Chair

P RINCIPAL A UTHOR
Cindy J. Moy
Golden Valley, Minnesota

R EVIEWERS

Samia J. Amamoo Administrator
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare
Evanston Hospital
Evanston, Illinois

George J. Annas
Utley Professor and Chair
Health Law Department
Boston University School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts

Jeff Atkinson
Professor of Law
DePaul University School of Law
Chicago, Illinois

Marcelo Corpuz Attorney
Ross & Hardies
Chicago, Illinois

Lawrence O. Gostin
Professor of Law and Public Health
Georgetown University, The
Johns Hopkins University
Co-Director, Georgetown/
Johns Hopkins Program on
Law and Public Health Washington, DC

Charles B. Inlander President
Peoples Medical Society
Allentown, Pennsylvania

Ami S. Jaeger
Principal
BioLaw Group
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Timothy Stoltzfus Jost
Newton D. Baker, Baker &
Hostetler Professor of Law and Health Services
Management and Policy
Ohio State University School of Law
Columbus, Ohio

John J. Lombard, Jr. Attorney
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Joan Polachek
Attorney
McDermott, Will & Emery
Chicago, Illinois

Robert L. Roth
Attorney
Michaels & Bonner, PC
Washington, DC

Jack A. Rovner
Attorney
Michaels, Best and Friedrich,
LLC
Chicago, Illinois

Salvatore J. Russo
Executive Senior Counsel
New York City Health &
Hospitals Corporation
New York, New York

Charles P. Sabatino
Assistant Director
ABA Commission on Legal
Problems of the Elderly
Washington, DC

Lois Snyder
Director, Center for Ethics and
Professionalism
American College of
PhysiciansAmerican Society
of Internal Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bethany Spielman
Department of Medical Humanities
SIU School of Medicine
Springfield, Illinois

Allan J. Tanenbaum, Chair
General Counsel, AFC Enterprises
Atlanta, Georgia

Honorable Rosemary Barkett
U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
Miami, Florida

Honorable Judith M. Billings
Utah Court of Appeals
Salt Lake City, Utah

N. Kay Bridger-Riley
Bridger-Riley & Associates
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Howard M. Kirshbaum
Judicial Arbiter Group, Inc.
Denver, Colorado

Alan S. Kopit
Hahn Loeser & Parks
Cleveland, Ohio

Dennis J. Lehr
Hogan & Hartson, LLP
Washington, DC

Margaret Kuroda Masunaga
Office of the Corporation Counsel, County of Hawaii
Kaelakekua, Hawaii

Rachel F. Moran
University of California School of Law
Berkeley, California

Honorable James A. Noe
Superior Court Judge (Ret.)
Mercer Island, Washington

William S. Sessions
Holland & Knight, LLP
Washington, DC

Gary D. Slaiman
Swidler & Berlin
Washington, DC

Georgina Verdugo
Executive Director
Americans for a Fair Chance
Washington, DC

Karen D. Walker
Holland & Knight, LLP
Tallahassee, Florida

W. Scott Welch, III
Butler, Snow, OMara, Stevens & Canada, PLLC
Jackson, Mississippi