Role and Functions of Law Essay

Role and Functions of Law
University of Phoenix
Law 421
September 24, 2012
Jennifer Heiner, JD

Role and Functions of Law Laws are needed to keep order. Without laws our world would be in chaos, there would be no boundaries, no consequences it would be a free for all for pandemonium. Our founding fathers realized the importance of creating laws to protect the rights of human beings and govern the country and that is how the concept of the Constitution of the United States was born. These laws were established to set boundaries to set the tone of what is acceptable behavior in society, what is right, what is wrong and to determine how one will be prosecuted and punished for his/her crimes. The law extends into every aspect of our lives; it allows us to feel a sense of protection. It allows us to seek retribution when someone or something crosses our civil liberties; laws establish guidelines for how we do business and the consequences we face if we choose to break the law. As we evolve as a society and as technology opens new avenues of global communication our laws will continue to change to meet the needs of our advancing nation. I currently work for a large physician practice and through the years I have witnessed a multitude of changes in how the day to day operations of a physician practice run. In the late 80’s Congress implemented Stark Laws which basically applies to physicians who referred Medicare / Medicaid patients for certain diagnostic test to a facility of which the physician and / or a close family member have a financial stake in (Gosfield, JD, 2003). The Stark laws were designed to remove any conflicts of interest in which a physician’s referral patterns could have a negative impact on patient quality care. There have been numerous physicians / hospitals that have abused their position and fraudulently billed insurance companies millions of dollars for procedures that were performed unnecessarily and / or not at all; these laws have been put in place to deter such behavior. There are also laws such as the Anti-Kickback Statute which was implemented to impede unfair practices in obtaining contracts and recruits. The U.S. healthcare industry encompasses a wide range of

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