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A Study on the Legal Justification of the Telemedicine and the Constitutional Basis of the Telemedicine on the Level of States in U.S.A.

  • Public Land Law Review
  • Abbr : KPLLR
  • 2019, 86(), pp.309-343
  • Publisher : Korean Public Land Law Association
  • Research Area : Social Science > Law
  • Received : April 30, 2019
  • Accepted : May 16, 2019
  • Published : May 31, 2019

Yongjeon Choi 1

1대진대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

- In the modern ubiquitous and smart society, we recognize that the telemedicine enhances patient’s access to medical care and is effective in saving medical expenses. Korea has started remote medical pilot projects from 1980’ and recently allowed medical services through the cloud computing. Nevertheless, The implementation of telemedicine is delayed due to lack of legal institutional support. - The subjects, actions and objects of telemedicine that are allowed by the Medical service Act means merely the ‘remote advice’. Also the amendment bill that have been proposed in the Congress remains in an unstructured and incomplete state. Therefore, the comparative studies on telemedicine with foreign countries are needed. - The ideological basis of telemedicine in Korea started from the principle of social state. Recently, it is based on the principle of guarantee country introduced in Korea. In addition, Telemedicine is a constitutional realization policy of the national health protection obligation and one of the means to vouch the right to public health. - The US federal constitution does not prescribe ESC rights, but it is seen as a right contained in property rights or civil liberties. In other words, although the federal government does not have a substantive enactment on the right to public health as a social right and the principle of social welfare state, the federal government operates the Medicare program and the Medicaid program and is reforming the national health insurance program which covers the whole population as a compulsory social insurance system through the Obama Care Act (Health Insurance Reform Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), and the U.S. supreme court rule that the act is constitutional. - The US Congress has enacted a number of laws that recognize the right of the people to receive government medical services. Congress used the power of legislation on interstate commerce and Tax collection and expenditure as a basis for legislative power of health care. In the phrase of Section 8, Article 1 of U.S. Constitution, it is defined as “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties Imposts and Excises, common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;” and it stipulated as “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department of Officer thereof.” and based on this statement. - Unlike the federal constitution, state constitutions have a broad perspective on human rights, and The 13 state constitutions have specific provisions on health. Six of these states have already been applied this specific provisions by the courts, and the rest of the states have enforced comprehensive policies for the health care of residents in accordance with the charity regulations that can meet the urgent need of the national government. In addition, while one state has no direct rule, health care is recognized as a fundamental value in the state. - In some state constitutions with health care regulations, there were examples of statutory provisions imposing legislative duties on the state or the Legislature to realize health rights. In the case of Michigan, they defines the Constitution as “The public health and general welfare of the people of the state are hereby declared to be matters of primary public concern. The legislature shall pass suitable laws for the protection and promotion of the public health.”(§ 51, ARTICLE IV of Michigan Constitution) and imposes an explicit legislative obligation on the legislature. Since it was the duty of Congress to provide assistance to those in need through two ports, The New York State Council was required to enact a law to protect and promote the health of residents in the state. Additionally, in North Carolina, setting rules for the poor and the unfortunate through charitable provision is the supreme duty of civilized Christian nations, and congress should have regulation for public welfare.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.