COVID-19 Policy Playbook II

Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future

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The United States continues to address and recover from the year-old COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in more than 500,000 deaths so far and a historic economic recession. Fifty top legal experts convene to offer a new assessment of the U.S. policy response to the crisis, COVID-19 Policy Playbook: Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future, and recommend policy solutions at all levels of government, as the nation works to quell the current crisis and carry out plans to rebuild.

To access the first COVID Policy Playbook, click here.

To read the new COVID Policy Playbook press release, click here.

Media Contact: Liz Voyles, liz@brassrc.com (202) 297-9641.

Sponsored by the de Beaumont Foundation and the American Public Health Association, the report was produced by Public Health Law Watch in cooperation with the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law, the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University, Wayne State University Law School, the Hall Center for Law and Health, the Network for Public Health Law and ChangeLab Solutions.

Topics and Authors

Summary of Findings and Recommendations for Action, Scott Burris, JD, Temple University Beasley School of Law; Sarah de Guia, JD, ChangeLab Solutions; Lance Gable, JD, MPH, Wayne State University Law School; Donna Levin, JD, Network for Public Health Law; Wendy E. Parmet, JD, Northeastern University School of Law; Nicolas P. Terry, LLM, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Introduction: Politics, policies, laws, and health in a time of COVID-19, Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, Boston University School of Public Health

Part I: Using Government Powers to Control the Pandemic

1. Policy Tracking in a Pandemic: Lessons Learned, Lindsay K. Cloud, JD, Katie Moran-McCabe, JD, Elizabeth Platt, JD, MA, Nadya Prood, MPH, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Center for Public Health Law Research

2. Is Law Working? Where COVID-19 Legal Epidemiology Goes from Here, Evan Anderson, JD, PhD., University of Pennsylvania; Scott Burris, JD, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law

3. Contact Tracing, Intrastate and Interstate Quarantine, and Isolation, Ross D. Silverman, JD, MPH, Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

4. Distancing, Movement and Gathering Restrictions, and Business and Activity Control Measures, Lance Gable, JD, MPH, Wayne State University Law School 

5. Surveillance, Privacy, and App Tracking, Jennifer D. Oliva, JD, MBA, Seton Hall University School of Law

6. Improving Data Collection and Management, Leah R. Fowler, JD, University of Houston Law Center; Jessica L. Roberts, JD, University of Houston Law Center; Nicolas P. Terry, LLM, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

7. Lessons from the 2020 Election Cycle, Dawn M. Hunter, JD, MPH, Network for Public Health Law – Southeastern Region

Part II: Fulfilling Governmental Responsibility in a Federal System

8. Executive Decision-Making for COVID-19: Incorporating Equity Considerations, Peter D. Jacobson, JD, MPH, University of Michigan; Denise Chrysler, JD, The Network for Public Health Law; Abigail Lynch, JD (Expected 2021), MA, University of Michigan

9. The Need for a Strong and Stable Federal Public Health Agency Independent from Politicians, Jacqueline Salwa, Harvard University; Christopher Robertson, JD, PhD, Boston University

10. Federalism in Pandemic Prevention and Response, Lindsay F. Wiley, JD, MPH, American University

11. Preemption, Public Health, and Equity in the Time of COVID-19, Kim Haddow, BA, Local Solutions Support Center; Derek Carr, JD, ChangeLab Solutions; Benjamin D. Winig, JD, MPA, ThinkForward Strategies; and Sabrina Adler, JD, ChangeLab Solutions

12. Beyond the Pandemic: Historical Infrastructure, Funding, and Data Access Challenges in Indian Country, Heather Tanana, JD, MPH, The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law; and Aila Hoss, JD, University of Tulsa College of Law

Part III: Financing and Delivering Health Care

13. Private Insurance Limits and Responses, Elizabeth Weeks, JD, University of Georgia School of Law

14. Lessons Learned: Strengthening Medicaid to Address Health and Economic Emergencies, Nicole Huberfeld, JD, Boston University School of Public Health and School of Law; Sidney D. Watson, JD, Saint Louis University Law School 

15. Caring for the Uninsured, Sara Rosenbaum, JD, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University; Morgan Handley, JD, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University

16. Telehealth and Inequity during the COVID-19 Response, Cason D. Schmit, JD, Texas A&M University

17. Assuring Access to Abortion, Rachel Rebouché, JD, LLM, Temple University, Beasley School of Law

18. Access to Treatment for Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder, Corey S. Davis, JD, MSPH, Harm Reduction Legal Project, Network for Public Health Law; Amy Judd Lieberman, JD, Harm Reduction Legal Project, Network for Public Health Law 

19. Legal Strategies for Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Relation to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Jill Krueger, JD, Network for Public Health Law−Northern Region

20. Implementation and Enforcement of Quality and Safety in Long-Term Care, Tara Sklar, JD, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

Part IV: Assuring Access to Medicines and Medical Supplies

21. Strategies to Address the Chronic Shortage of N95 Masks and Other Filtering Facepiece Respirators during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Michael S. Sinha, MD, JD, MPH, Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science, Harvard Medical School

22. COVID-19 as an Example of Why Genomic Sequence Data Should Remain Patent Ineligible, Jorge L. Contreras, JD, University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law and University of Utah School of Medicine 

23. Drug and Vaccine Development and Access, Patricia J. Zettler, JD, Moritz College of Law and The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University; Micah L. Berman, JD, College of Public Health, Moritz College of Law, and The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University; Efthimios Parasidis, JD, MBE, Moritz College of Law and College of Public Health, The Ohio State University

24. Assuring Essential Medical Supplies During a Pandemic: Using Federal Law to Measure Need, Stimulate Production, and Coordinate Distribution, Evan Anderson, JD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania; Scott Burris, JD, Temple University Beasley School of Law

25. Allocating Medical Resources during Times of Scarcity, Lance Gable, JD, MPH, Wayne State University Law School 

Part V: Protecting Workers and Families

26. Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable and At-Risk School-Age Children, Stacie P. Kershner, JD, Center for Law, Health & Society, Georgia State University College of Law; Brooke N. Silverthorn, JD, Health Law Partnership Legal Services Clinic, Georgia State University College of Law 

27. A Pandemic Meets a Housing Crisis, Courtney Lauren Anderson, JD, LLM, Georgia State University College of Law

28. Using SNAP to Address Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mathew Swinburne, JD, Network for Public Health Law−Eastern Region

29. Paid Leave and Unemployment Insurance during the Pandemic and Beyond, Sharon Terman, JD, Legal Aid at Work; Michele Evermore, MS, National Employment Law Project

30. Gaps in Worker Protections that Increase Essential Workers’ Exposure to COVID-19, Ruqaiijah Yearby, JD, MPH, Saint Louis University School of Law

31. Liability, Liability Shields, and Waivers, Nicolas P. Terry, LLM, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

32. COVID-19 Illustrates Need to Close the Digital Divide, Betsy Lawton, JD, Network for Public Health Law−Northern Region 

Part VI: Taking on Disparities and Protecting Equal Rights

33. COVID-19, Incarceration & the Criminal Legal System, Jessica Bresler, JD, Northeastern University; Leo Beletsky, MPH, JD, Northeastern University

34. Supporting LGBT Communities in the COVID Pandemic, Craig J. Konnoth, M.Phil., JD, University of Colorado School of Law 

35. Reversing Immigration Law’s Adverse Impact on Health, Wendy E. Parmet, JD, Northeastern University School of Law

36. Protecting the Rights and Well-Being of People with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Elizabeth Pendo, JD, Saint Louis University School of Law

37. Fostering the Civil Rights of Health, Angela Harris, JD, UC Davis School of Law; Aysha Pamukcu, JD, Movement Praxis

38. Closing Reflection: The Way Forward, Patricia J. Williams, JD, Northeastern University School of Law