The seminar examines recent and pending federal and state health legislation to identify changes in laws and legal principles governing health insurance and health benefit programs in the U.S. Special attention is paid to Massachusetts as a model for federal legislation and the comparative advantages of federal and state governance. Students explore the role(s) of insurance in the health system by analyzing and comparing federal and state laws governing different types of health benefit plans (including indemnity insurance, consumer choice, and health promotion plans), and how reforms affect current law, including state licensure, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Topics include basic concepts of insurance; accepting, managing and shifting financial risk; individual and employer mandates; insurance exchanges; contracting with providers; designing and administering plans; defining benefits; and remedies for breach of contract and negligent care. PREREQUISITE: JD 867 (Health Law) or LW 751 (Public Health Law at BUSPH) or permission of instructor. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the instructor's permission. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.