Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:Introduction to Health Care and Public Health in the U.S.
Unit:Financing Health Care - Part 1
Lecture:The history of the health insurance industry in the U.S.
Slide content:Roles of U.S. Government - 2 Lawmaker role 1: Ensure fair competition Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890 Clayton Act, 1914 Lawmaker role 2: Protect the public Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act created FDA, 1938 Hatch-Waxman Act, 1984 American with Disabilities Act, 1990 27
Slide notes:One objective of the governments third role, that of lawmaker, is to ensure fair competition. An example is the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. This law prohibits restraint of trade and monopolization, where one company takes over all of the business for a particular product or service, to the exclusion of other competitors. In 1914, Congress passed the Clayton Act to close loopholes left by the Sherman Act. The Clayton Act addresses the pricing of goods and services, also known as price-fixing, and targets monopolies and exclusive arrangements that restrict fair competition. The second objective for the government in passing laws is to protect and serve the public. An excellent example in health care is the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, passed by Congress in 1938, which created the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. The role of the FDA is to protect and promote public health . In 1984, Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act, the full name of which is the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act . This law gives drug and device companies an incentive to develop new products by allowing them extra-long patent periods, to compensate them for the time they have to spend testing new products . In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, which requires that people with disabilities have equal access to employment, transportation, state and local government services, most businesses and public places, and telephone service. 27