With the growing need for proper healthcare administration, it cannot be denied that the medical industry is expanding its services as well. Due to these, getting appropriate medical care can be quite difficult for many, especially with the existing laws that cover certain health concerns. The so called healthcare law encapsulate the statutes and regulations that regulate hospital and general medical administration. However, as these governing body is truly complex, the need for healthcare lawyers, who could provide answers to relating questions, has also been growing exponentially.A health care attorney is capable of interpreting highly complex regulations and statutes. This type of lawyer advises hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, physicians, insurer, other providers, and even patients regarding matters that are under the governing body of the law. This means that they are highly qualified to provide medical professionals and patients alike with information about medico-legal concepts that are hard to understand and synthesize. Licensing, reimbursements, malpractice litigation, medical insurance, risk managements, and general corporate management issues are just some of the many medical matters that can be properly addressed by lawyers.Because of the wide scope of the law, providers and patients alike definitely need to employ the service of a specialized attorney so as to receive appropriate legal counseling that could address their issues. For health care practitioners, healthcare lawyers are helpful in furnishing information as well as answering questions about the legalities of different matters including bioethical issues like Medicare and Medicaid compliance, assisted reproduction and introduction of new technologies in accordance to patient privacy laws. In addition, they collaborate with hospitals and other institutions and organizations for litigation such as defense for medical malpractice, commercial and labor disputes, antitrust and abuse litigation, and fraud. As for patients, lawyers can assist them with their private insurance policies, estate planning as well as their patient rights.These lawyers have a wide clientele base. In fact, aside from their physician and patient clients they also work for health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and other known and registered health organizations. Similarly, they also legally stand in behalf of ambulatory surgical centers, dental practices, laboratories as well as nurses, chiropractors, dentists and podiatrists. Seemingly, this client base is a clear evidence of the growing demand for these kind of lawyers.As with any law practice, strong logic and analysis are two important characteristics that a practitioner must exude. When it comes to practicing health law, it is essential to have strong affinity towards the policies and legal process of the health care system. Hence, if you are looking for an attorney who would address your health care concerns, make sure that the person you would employ has acquired a Juris doctorate degree, has a license and had passed the Bar examination. You have to consider all these things for you to ensure that you would be getting appropriate legal counsel.There are myriads of law firms today that offer specialize in healthcare law and offer the services of these types of lawyers. However, before you contact them, make sure that you do extensive background check about your prospective law firms or health care lawyers. One of the best things you can do is to ask your fellow medical professionals or patients who have already tried the services of health care lawyers, so that they would be able to make recommendations that could help you with your decision. Although you may not be experiencing any issues concerning your health care practice or needs, it is always best to have a legal counsel to prepare you in case problems arise in the future.The health system has complex laws that are not fully understood by most medical practitioners and patients alike. Because of this, employing the services of a health care attorney is therefore imperative in order to have better grasp on these governing laws. Lawyers who specialize in this kind of laws can provide medical practitioners and organizations with medico-legal counsels that are essential for the improvement of providing medical services to people.

Everyone, at some time in his or her life, will need to seek medical care. The American health care system is a billion dollar industry, and it discards people that can’t afford its services. The current health care system is divided into two groups–health care for the insured and no health care or limited care for the uninsured. The kind of medical and personal care that an individual receives under the current American health care system depends on the person’s insurance status. In the land of equal opportunity, segregation is still practiced.It is a well known fact that people that have health insurance receive much better medical and personal treatment from health care providers than people that don’t have health insurance. The insured are treated with dignity and respect. Sadly, the uninsured are treated with indifference and disdain. For uninsured people, obtaining health care can be an extremely demoralizing and frustrating experience.When a person calls a medical practitioner for an appointment, the first question of the medical office staff is if the person has health insurance. If the person doesn’t have health insurance, the attitude of the office staff changes dramatically. A lot of times the person is asked abrasive and invasive financial questions. Cash payment is requested before the visit will be scheduled, or at the time of the visit prior to services being provided. Some medical offices refuse to provide medical care if there is no health insurance and the person is unable to pay cash in advance. Uninsured people seeking medical care face embarrassment because they cannot pay in full for medical services without benefit of a monthly payment plan. They are made to feel like their health does not matter because they are uninsured.In some hospitals and physician’s offices, the type of medical care that is rendered to uninsured patients is much different the medical care that is provided to insured patients. During a personal interview with Carolyn Hagan, an uninsured Oregon resident, it was revealed just how shoddily uninsured patients are treated. According to Hagan, because she doesn’t have health insurance, she is unable to obtain the necessary medical care for her heart condition. Hagan stated, “I have so much trouble getting medical care because I am uninsured, and I can’t afford the cost of health insurance. I can’t afford the high cost of the medical tests that I need. None of the doctors will treat me except for occasional brief checkups because I am not profitable to them. Every health insurance company that I contacted to see if I could get insurance refused to insure me because I have heart trouble. I have had to cancel medical tests because funding that I applied for to help with the cost became unavailable. The care that I need is expensive, and it is so frustrating because no one is willing to help me. I feel like no one cares.”Hagan is a productive American citizen that works and pays taxes, and she is among the working middle class that is wrongfully victimized by the American health care system. Due to health insurance company exclusions, she is not insurable, and she is unable to pay cash in advance for the care that she needs. What the current health care system in America is telling her is that even though she is a hard working American citizen, she doesn’t matter because she can’t help increase the bottom line of the health care industry.Many practitioners refuse to work with uninsured people, and won’t allow them to pay for medical care on a monthly payment plan. This additional exclusion prevents thousands of Americans from obtaining necessary health care. The American health care system has become so convoluted and expensive that American citizens are forced to seek health care outside the United States. Places like Argentina, Singapore, Manila, Bangalore, and Costa Rica provide high quality, low cost health care to American citizens that America should be providing to its own people.American society is insurance poor–people are unable to get health insurance. Private insurance policies are too expensive for most people to afford, and the policies that are affordable to people of middle class and lower are frequently inadequate in the medical services that they cover. American insurance companies have exclusions that prevent many people from qualifying for health insurance even though having the insurance would prevent further illness and allow maintenance for current illness, consequently reducing medical costs.America has some of the best trained medical professionals, and the cost of their education is enormous. No one can expect them not to make a good living at their profession; however, the migration of medical care to countries outside the United States is a glaring indication that the American health care system needs to be revamped and made affordable to everyone.There have been many attempts at health care reform in America; by the time it finally happens, there might not be enough people seeking medical care in the United States for the reform to make any difference. America will still be health care poor while other countries will be getting rich by providing Americans the health care that America places beyond reach.© Copyright 2007 Patti McMann. All rights reserved.