Overcoming Fragmentation in Disability and Health Law

Legal structures respond to human need by defining situations in which specific rights or entitlements attach. Legal protections usually depend on whether an individual is operating within a particular time period, physical space, or other context. The assumption underlying this targeted approach to state response is that the law must make distinctions between individuals that both determine eligibility for legal protections and possible remedies. In litigation, this approach may be perceived as necessary to promote fairness amongst adversarial parties.

Targeted approaches may also facilitate desired judicial outcomes, by expanding, contracting, or reframing liability. Laws structuring social welfare programs or other access to material resources may target certain populations to control public expenditures. This Article explores the previously underappreciated problem of legal fragmentation for individuals who are disabled or seriously ill. I examine such fragmentation at the macro- and micro-levels.