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National Health Law Program

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Founded in 1970, the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) is a national public interest law firm that seeks to improve health care for America's working and unemployed poor, minorities, the elderly and people with disabilities. NHeLP serves legal services programs, community-based organizations, the private bar, providers and individuals who work to preserve a health care safety net for the millions of uninsured or underinsured low-income people.

Project Spotlight

Health Reform Analysis PDF Print E-mail
NHeLP has released an in-depth analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as well as the amendments made to PPACA by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.  Given NHeLP’s focus on Medicaid and CHIP, civil rights, reproductive health and justice, and empowering low-income beneficiaries and their advocates, we have concentrated our analysis on areas of the law most related to those areas and populations.

State Health Reform Litigation

In addition to the in-depth legal analysis of the law, NHeLP has included several resources related to the ongoing litigation in the states, which we are continuously updating.

Click here to go to our Health Reform page...

The Standards of Care Project
The National Health Law Program is pleased to announce the release of its new report, Health Care Refusals: Undermining Quality Care for Women.

NHeLP’s Standards of Care Project is a multi-year initiative to reshape the public debate about refusal clauses (also known as conscience clauses) that recognize the “rights” of health care professionals to refuse to provide information and care that would normally be required in evidence-based medical practice.  These legal exemptions also allow institutions such as hospitals, clinics, and insurers to prohibit willing providers from delivering care that meets medical standards.

The report offers a new framework for evaluating refusal clauses and denials of care, hospital mergers, and other transactions when they conflict with accepted and expected medical care.  Instead of debating rights, Health Care Refusals looks to evidence-based, established medical practice guidelines and evaluates the health consequences of refusals by asking a simple question:  Is this good medical care?  The findings demonstrate that the answer is a resounding No! These policies can and do compromise women’s health.

As part of our longstanding commitment to quality care for low income women, NHeLP recognizes that health care refusals have an exponentially greater impact on low-income women who are likely to have fewer choices of providers, to be enrolled in managed care, and to be unable to travel or afford out-of-plan services.