When Ursula Newell-Davis of New Orleans sees someone with a problem, she looks for a way to help—it’s in her nature. That’s what led her to her calling as a social worker, where Ursula has worked the past two decades with special needs children and their families. But Ursula has her own problem: the Louisiana … ...
During the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse criticized Pacific Legal Foundation again in a critique of public interest law. We wrote on Senator Whitehouse’s repeated misunderstandings about PLF and the role of public interest law in our Summer issue of Sword&Scales *** In politics ...
During the global pandemic, healthcare providers have expanded their ability to care for additional patients by adding beds and ventilators and expanding facilities. But laws in some states prevent providers from taking steps needed to expand care options. Now we have a clear accounting of the costs of these laws: A new working paper by … ...
2020 feels like it’s following Murphy’s law: if something can go wrong, it will. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands and cost millions more their jobs, businesses, and way of life. Then, when many Americans were getting ready to go back to work and small business owners were getting ready to open back … ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused incredible uncertainty in so many aspects of people’s lives. Unfortunately, but predictably, much of that uncertainty and turmoil has been caused by government policies and actions. Almost as soon as state and federal responses to COVID-19 began, PLF started fielding calls about our thoughts on the emergency o ...
In 36 states, medical providers must prove that a new service is “needed” before opening new facilities or purchasing medical equipment. In states with Certificate of Need (CON) laws, health care providers must satisfy this requirement at an onerous hearing where existing providers are invited to show up and testify that the current ser ...
Today, in support of Brewster Ambulance Service, PLF called on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to suspend the state’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) requirement for ambulances. That law puts the interests of incumbent providers above Florida entrepreneurs and consumers and blocks health care providers from providing vit ...
Temporary hospitals are popping up all over New York in anticipation of a growing number of coronavirus patients and an undersupply of hospital beds. The U.S. has just 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 Americans⸺even fewer than Italy (3.2) and drastically lower than South Korea (12.3). But those so-called “field” hospitals, hidden beneath m ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused incredible turmoil and pain for millions of people around the world. This uncertainty has inspired many to call for government to step in and fight the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that hospitals and critical industries have the resources and supplies they need. While government policies have a role in … ...