Showing papers in "Fordham Urban Law Journal in 1977"

The Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1976: A New Prescription?

Abstract: The 1976 Health Professions Educational Assistance Act is a new congressional effort to promote the rational development, distribution, and utilization of the health professions through financial incentives. The Act represents a compromise solution to the issues affecting the quality, quantity and distribution of health manpower. It targets the four major problems of the current system: (1) the shortage of health professionals; (2) the geographic maldistribution of health manpower; (3) the specialty maldistribution of physicians and dentists; and (4) the influx of foreign medical graduates into the United States. This comment examines the effectiveness of past legislative responses to these issues and considers the provisions of the new law that attempt to resolve them. The comment discusses various aspects of the 1976 Act such as: (1) its amendments to the direct federal loan program for students in health profession schools; (2) the substantial increases in the authorization of funding to programs such as the National Health Service Corps (NHSC); (3) requirements placed on health profession schools for capitation support; and (4) enlargement of the existing Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) program. The comment suggests that immense public pressure for extensive federal control of the nation’s health manpower education programs will arise unless the geographic and specialty maldistribution of health professionals improves upon the 1976 Act’s expiration in 1980.

The 1974 Health Care Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act: Jurisdictional Standards and Appropriate Bargaining Units

Abstract: The purpose of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is to ensure the well-being of labormanagement relations through the encouragement of collective bargaining, and the prohibition of certain practices by labor unions and employers. The NLRA applies to cases where labor disputes may tend to burden, obstruct or affect interstate commerce. In an effort to settle the controversy surrounding the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) jurisdiction over non-profit hospitals, Congress passed the Health Care Amendments to squarely put non-profit hospitals under NLRB’s jurisdiction. This note examines two problems presented by the amendments: (1) the extent of NLRB’s jurisdiction under the amendments, specifically considerations of the minimum monetary standards of interstate business; (2) and the appropriate bargaining units for hospital workers in collective bargaining, specifically the question of what type of hospital employees can be grouped together in light of Congress’ admonition against the undue proliferation of these units. The note concludes that the NLRB has approached fulfilling the NLRA’s purpose with flexibility and highlighted the NLRB’s attempt to balance the traditional community of interests tests with the congressional mandate to avoid proliferation of bargaining units.

Note: Child Abuse and Maltreatment: The Development of New York's Child Protection Laws

Abstract: Each year over 200,000 children in the United States are abused or neglected by their parents. While many of these children are very young and come from poor families, children of every age and income bracket are victimized. In the early 1960s the federal government took some affirmative action by amending the Social Security Act to provide funds for the states in order to establish comprehensive child welfare services for children receiving substandard care. Until recently the states had done little to help these children. Each state now has laws offering protection and services to abused and neglected children. New York’s child protection system is one of the most extensive programs in the nation. The New York child protection statutes include within their coverage both abused and maltreated children. These laws include provisions for identifying the abused child, for providing the abused child and his family with social services and, where necessary, for removing the abused child from the home. This Note will discuss the background, goals and effectiveness of New York’s child protection system.

Case Note: Securities Law - Pensions - An Involuntary Noncontributory Employee Pension Fund is a "Security" Under the Federal Securities Laws

Abstract: In this case note, Peter J. Kurshan analyzes Daniel v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 410 F. Supp. 541 (N.D. Ill. 1976), appeal docketed, No. 76-1855 (7th Cir. April 29, 1976). Plaintiff union member John Daniel was denied the right to receive union pension benefits after working for twenty-two and one half years. The trustees of the Local 705 Fund denied the benefits because Daniel’s employment was not continuous. They contended that Daniel did not meet the conditions of the union pension plan, since he had been laid off involuntarily for several months. As a result, Daniel brought a class action under the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws on behalf of all present and past Teamster members against the trustees of Local 705 pension plan, Local 705, certain Local officers and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Daniel alleged that defendants had violated section 17a of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and section 10b of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), in the offer and sale of interests in their pension fund. The district court in Daniel v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters agreed with plaintiff that an investment in a pension fund constitutes the sale of a security as defined by the securities laws, and that a private cause of action can be successfully litigated under the antifraud provisions of those laws. The court conceded that the securities laws provide no explicit answer to whether involuntary and noncontributory pension plans involve the sale of a security, but it found no statutory language prohibiting the application of these laws to pension funds.

Note: New York - A City in Crisis: Fiscal Emergency Legislation and the Constitutional Attacks

Abstract: Generous spending and, some would add, fiscal mismanagement have been a New York City tradition, putting tremendous pressures on both the City and State budgets. To forestall the deterioration of the City’s financial condition and the subsequent collapse of the City itself, the New York State Legislature enacted a series of laws, many of which were feverishly incorporated into the body of State law in extraordinary session. With the creation of public authorities, the authorization of State funds to aid these authorities, and State hindrance of the payment of municipal debt service obligations, came inevitable claims in the courts that the State had attempted to circumvent constitutional debt limitations. The New York Court of Appeals responded to the constitutional attacks on the emergency legislation by manifesting, in a series of critical cases, a pragmatic, public policy attitude aimed at both the bond market and the individual investor. An examination of these decisions and the legislation which spawned the suits evinces the court’s result-oriented approach toward what is in effect a bridling of legislative and municipal power.