Introduction
The ALWD reference manual governs how a typical legal citation should be done; rule 12 of the manual is the part that outlines the most critical components of such citations (Schubert, 2011). A case reference contains eight basic components, including the case name, reporter volume number, reporter abbreviation, the initial page number of the opinion, pinpoint pages, court and year, subsequent history description, and the citation itself (Schubert, 2011). Most of the components are illustrated in the case citation below.
Wagen v. Ford Motor Co., 97 Wis. 2d 260, 294 N.W. 2d 437 (1980)
The phrase “Wagen v. Ford Motor Co.” represents the case name, where Wagen and Ford Motor Co. are the names of the main parties to the case. On the other hand, ‘v.’ is a contraction of the word versus. The next section, which is ‘97 Wis. 2d 260’, represents the three main parts of the case reporter component. The first numerical notation, 97, is the volume number of the reporter, while the phrase ‘Wis. 2d’ is the reporter abbreviation; it contains the name of the reporter and the case series number (Schubert, 2011). In the example above, “2d” means it is a second series case. The number ‘260’ represents the initial opinion page number, while ‘437’ is the page of the case in volume 294 of the N.W regional reports (Schubert, 2011). On the other hand, ‘N.W’ designates a North Western (regional) reporter, while the number in brackets, 1980, marks the year in which the case was determined.
Health laws are strict policies that control and standardize operations of all stakeholders relating to the medical services industry, including health practitioners and providers. There are four major foundations of health care laws: state and federal written constitutions, regulations, legislative principles, and other important legal policies; however, most health care laws are based on the administrative act (Stiller & Weinstock, 2006).
Regulations
There are two main types of regulations, including legislative and interpretive rules. Legislative policy is composed of the rules, rights, and obligations that citizens should follow. Legislative rules are promulgated in accordance with specific procedures governed by the relevant state statutes (Stiller & Weinstock, 2006). Members of the public as well as administrative agencies are bound by the legislative policy. The second type, interpretive rule, is an elucidation of existing regulations to the public.
Legislative Principles
Health care providers can only create and adopt policies that are within its legal mandate, which is granted by the legislature. However, the power is limited to the authority delegated to the agency by the law (Stiller & Weinstock, 2006). The authority delegated by the legislature to an administrative agency gives it the power to formulate legal policy. In addition, the procedural requirements for the rulemaking procedure of such an agency are outlined in the statutes that govern the process (Showalter, 2011).
Important Concepts
According to Showalter (2011), there are various legal bases from which health care agencies derive their laws. For example, an administrative agency’s interpretation of its regulations can be given deference by the court. In most cases, constitutional courts give substantial deference to the agency’s interpretation of the relevant statutes it is supposed to administer (Stiller & Weinstock, 2006). However, administrative law does not favor deference by the court if the interpretations are not in line with the relevant statutes.
References
Schubert, F. A. (2011). Introduction to law and the legal system. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Showalter, J. S. (2011). The law of healthcare administration. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Stiller, J. A., & Weinstock, J. L. (2006). Introduction to health law. Haverford, PA: Pennsylvania Bar Institute Press.