44 Unit 1 Foundations of Medical Law and Ethics Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Healthcare itself is not specifically mentioned in the Preamble but can be found in the constitutional purpose to promote the general wel- fare and secure liberty. The provision to “promote the general welfare” has served as justification for extensive government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, food and drug regulation, and nationally spon- sored medical research and disease control. How do such federal laws, programs, and rules come into being? The carefully designed system of procedures that contributes to their creation is addressed in several articles of the Constitution. The Articles of the Constitution The articles of the Constitution are sections of the document that describe the authority and limitations of the three branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial (Figure 3.3). The three branches were set up by the Constitution to ensure that no one area of federal government became dominant. This separation of powers sys- tem, also described as the checks and balances, was established so that each branch of government had the ability to perform specific, separate functions that can be limited by one of the other two branches. Article I of the Constitution creates the legislative branch and gives certain powers to Congress. Congress is composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The most important powers given to Congress are its authority for making federal statutory law (written law) and its power to approve federal taxes and expenditures. This permits citizens of the country, who elect the members of Congress, to maintain control over lawmaking and the cost of government. One example of a statutory law made by Congress that impacts health is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The HITECH Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009. Its purpose is to promote the greater adoption of health information technology while protecting patient privacy detailed in other federal laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Incentives are available for medical facilities to implement and utilize electronic health records (EHR) systems. If a medical facility does not use EHRs, it may face penalties. separation of powers term that describes a purposeful structuring of the government to avoid one person or group of people wielding uncontrolled centralized power checks and balances a term used to describe the limitations of each branch of government and the coordination among the branches required to operate the government legislative branch the portion of the government made up of lawmakers elected by the people includes the House of Representatives and the Senate statutory law term that describes the body of law established by legislatures as opposed to common law that has been developed over time by case law Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act a federal law established to promote the adoption of health information technology while protecting patient privacy Figure 3.2 The Preamble to the Constitution indirectly references healthcare in its call to “promote the general welfare.” We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.