118 Unit 2 The Healthcare Environment Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. State statutes comprise a large portion of laws applicable to healthcare, yet laws and regulations at the federal level also have a major impact on healthcare. The Public Health Service Act of 1944 contains a significant por- tion of federal healthcare law. The act primarily focuses on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS administers hundreds of programs and contains 11 operating divisions with various objectives, such as providing financial assistance to low-income individuals, conducting medical research, providing healthcare and advocacy services, and enforc- ing laws and regulations related to human services. These divisions include the Administration for Children and Fami- lies, the Food and Drug Administration, and others. There are also sev- eral agencies within HHS that are focused specifically on healthcare, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is involved with medical research, and the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion (CDC), which helps to protect the nation’s health. In addition to the Public Health Service Act, many other federal laws affect the delivery of healthcare. The most recent major law is the Patient Pro- tection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in 2010, which was designed to provide comprehensive health insurance reforms. A number of other laws have established direct medical care programs for special populations, including the military, veterans, and even Congress itself. This chapter dis- cusses a few of the many programs that affect a great number of patients, or that may affect you regardless of your chosen health-related activities. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama. The law was challenged (and is still being challenged at the time of this publication) Public Health Service Act law that structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) law that was passed to help decrease the number of Americans who do not have health insurance and help reduce the overall cost of healthcare Suppose you recently completed a medical assisting program and started your first job in a wonderful community clinic. You live in a small rural town, and the physician you work for is the one who delivered you. Now you are expecting your first child and want her to deliver your baby. But you have noticed that she is billing patients for services she has not provided. She has also billed for patients she has not seen at all. The first few times you saw this, you thought it was an error, but now you see it often. You are concerned that this physician is behaving illegally and unethically. What would you do? What should you do? What Would You Do?