Where people are born, grow up, live, work, and play influences their ability to live healthfully. Economic and social policies also significantly contribute to the health and well-being of the population. These factors, called social determinants of health, can be impacted through government services such as Medicare and Medicaid, and other legal interventions that help level the playing field.
Results from grant-funded research projects evaluating public health law issues.
Washington State is among the first to legalize recreational marijuana. Local ordinances already exist to regulate medical marijuana, but a strong state medical regulatory framework does not exist. It is unclear how variations in local laws will impact marijuana access, use, initiation, and related outcomes such as injury and crime, particularly among youth.
The prevention and control of tuberculosis (TB) in the homeless population is an important public health goal, hampered by the reluctance of some homeless people to undergo medical screening, as well as the lack of evidence to support the best interventions for encouraging and increasing screening among those seeking shelter. This project will identify which of three legal mechanisms will result in the greatest reduction of undetected active TB cases among homeless people using emergency shelters.
Americans saw more than 2.8 million foreclosures recent years, and the impacts on public health are largely unknown. The foreclosure process may impact health if it causes stress-related illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes, if it forces reallocation of household funds that are otherwise used for health care, if it occasions dislocation that impacts treatment relationships, or if it degrades health-related behaviors such as diet and exercise.
The rapid growth of the immigrant Latino population in North Carolina and nationwide has led to immigration policies that may have a potentially profound impact on utilization of public health services. This study will evaluate whether a relationship exists between local immigration law enforcement and the utilization of public health services, especially prenatal care, by Latinos.
This study examines the HPV vaccination policy in Washington, D.C., to identify the successes and challenges of the HPV mandate across D.C. communities and the mandate’s impact on parental acceptability and vaccination rates, particularly among minorities and under-served populations.
This study will examine a local housing inspection law put into place in Rochester, New York in 2006, and will look as well at laws in several other cities, to see if and how local legislation can be used as a tool to more effectively to fill the gap left between state and federal laws removing paint from gasoline and from the paint used in homes were put in place decades ago.
This project will assess how a new law in the state of Washington (Voter Initiative 1183, on 6/1/12) which abolishes state alcohol “control” is associated with changes in:
In the United States, preemption is a legal doctrine that allows higher levels of government to restrict or even prevent a lower-level government from self-regulating. While it is often thought of in the context of the federal government preventing state regulation, preemption is increasingly used as a tool by states to limit cities, counties, and other lower-level municipalities from legislating across a broad array of issues.
This longitudinal dataset captures laws addressing authority to respond to public health emergencies that were enacted between May 21, 2022, and September 23, 2024, in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia.
Debt collection lawsuits have increased dramatically over the past few decades, now accounting for about a quarter of all cases on civil court dockets. These lawsuits — which can include civil lawsuits to recover student loan debt, medical debt, car loan debt, credit card debt, and more — are overwhelmingly resolved in favor of the debt collector. Debt and debt collection judgments can have severe and far-reaching consequences, including wage garnishment, bank account seizure, and inability to secure housing, employment, or medical care.
Coverage expansion for Medicaid improves access to care and health outcomes for people with substance use disorder (SUD). In spite of that evidence, as of May 2023, 10 states have failed to expand Medicaid funding to low-income adults as emergency enrollment protections established for COVID-19 end. This coverage gap in the non-expansion jurisdictions denies access to care to more than 1.9 million people living in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
To mitigate morbidity and mortality associated with prescription opioids, most states have implemented limits on opioid analgesic prescribing. Approaches vary, but these laws generally restrict the duration of an opioid prescriptions by the number of days supplied. Some states additionally limit the daily dosage or total dosage allowed in opioid prescriptions.
This dataset presents state-level statutes and regulations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia in effect between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2019.
This dataset, published on PDAPS.org, is cross-sectional and displays key features of mitigation laws at state correctional facilities relating to MOUD treatment across all 50 states and the District of Columbia in effect as of September 1, 2021.
This research collected Financial Assistance Policies and related debt collection policies from a representative sample of 75 340B hospitals to better understand financial support for pharmaceuticals for low-income populations.
This dataset on LawAtlas.org explores statutes and regulations addressing school lunch policies in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This dataset is valid through April 1, 2021.
This dataset is cross-sectional and displays key features of state Medicaid Waivers addressing COVID-19 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia approved as of July 1, 2021.
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