BU Symposium on "The American Right to Health"

As I write this, I am on my way to Boston for a symposium, sponsored by the American Journal of Law & Medicine (AJLM), on "The American Right to Health: Constitutional, Statutory, and Contractual Healthcare Rights in the United States." The symposium runs from about 9 to 5 tomorrow, Saturday the 28th, and it promises to be an interesting lineup (present company excepted, of course).

My own contribution (which, like the others, will be published in the AJLM) will focus on constitutional implications that may arise from the government's definition of concepts such as "medical necessity" and "essential health benefits" under the ACA. I plan to argue that, depending on how narrowly the states or federal government may delineate the benefits to which Americans are entitled under the Act, individuals' constitutional right to protect their health may be infringed. (Of course, this also assumes that individuals have a constitutional right to protect their health--a proposition that I have argued elsewhere). To the extent that the government will virtually occupy the field of health care, it will come to control individuals' private health care decisions to a greater extent than ever before. As such, it is possible that the courts will have to decide whether individuals truly possess a constitutional right to make certain health care decisions autonomously, and if so, when the government has violated that right.

The paper is not yet ready for prime time, so not available on SSRN, but I'd be interested in hearing any initial reactions to this very sketchy idea. Or just come on down to BU and check out the symposium!