Solomon Center Hosts Expert Discussions on New Frontiers in State Health Policy and Disability Law
The Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy recently welcomed health expert John V. Jacobi for two conversations on state policy reform and the future of disability law. Jacobi is a visiting professor of law at Yale Law School and the Dorothea Dix Professor of Health Law and Policy at Seton Hall Law School.
A roundtable on Oct. 14 brought Jacobi together with three dozen law students to discuss state efforts to improve health policy. Jacobi spoke about his extensive background in state government, including serving as assistant to the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate, counsel to the governor of New Jersey, and on various health advisory panels. He also discussed opportunities for aspiring lawyers to forge careers in state litigation and regulation.
Addressing the shifting public health landscape, Jacobi discussed how states should respond to significant changes in federal health policy like the enactment of more stringent Medicaid work requirements. He underscored that state policymakers will need to think creatively in the coming years to promote health care access with fewer resources.
A panel on disability law and policy the following week featured Jacobi and Solomon Center Faculty Director Abbe R. Gluck ’00. The Oct. 21 event took place before a capacity crowd of nearly 70 students and faculty from across Yale.
Jacobi outlined what the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has achieved and where it has fallen short. He proposed that the ADA’s civil rights framework be paired with a social services framework — including housing, healthcare, and community supports — to make good on the promise of equal rights for people with disabilities.
Gluck and Jacobi explored how states could pay for additional services, including for individuals who have high health care costs but do not qualify for Medicaid. Jacobi pointed to value-based payment in commercial insurance, where payers give health systems a set budget and require results on measures such as stable housing or access to nutritious food. He cautioned that success depends on smart metrics and active state oversight. Jacobi also stressed the value of community health worker programs in connecting people to care and services. Research has shown such programs can avoid costly emergency and inpatient care and save states money in the long run.
The conversation concluded with a reflection on how legal frameworks like the ADA can work alongside health programs like Medicaid. Jacobi emphasized that such frameworks should focus not only on guaranteeing access to employment and services, but also on building structures to help people with disabilities live independently and thrive in their communities.
About the Solomon Center
The Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School is the first of its kind to focus on the intersection of law and the governance, practice, and business of health care. The center brings together leading experts and practitioners from the public and private sectors to address cutting-edge questions of health law and policy, and to train the next generation of top health lawyers, industry leaders, policymakers, and academics.
