News Archive

Writing in Health Affairs Blog, IU McKinney Associate Professor Seema Mohapatra warns that workers, who are being asked to risk their health by working outside their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, need adequate hazard compensation, safe workplace conditions, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

“Sadly, this is not happening for many essential workers, such as those working in home health care and in the meat processing industry. These workers are not only being unnecessarily exposed to the virus, but they are also not receiving paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, and affordable health care and childcare. The lack of these protections is due to structural discrimination and has disproportionately disadvantaged women of color and low-wage workers. This leaves them and their families more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and death,” according to Professor Mohapatra and coauthor Ruqaiijah Yearby, professor and member of the Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University School of Law.

Health Affairs Blog is a vehicle for commentary and analysis on health policy and issues affecting health and health care.

Professor Mohapatra is a Dean’s Fellow at IU McKinney Law. Her research has focused on equity issues, centering on race and gender, in bioethics, public health law, and biotechnology and the law. She is an expert in the areas of health care law, public health law, bioethics, torts, and international family law.