Healthcare has undergone major changes since 1965 when Medicare and Medicaid became law (Fremgen, 2012). The growth rate of the older adult population and the remarkable technological discoveries and applications, such as heart and kidney transplants and mobile mammogram units, are just a few of the developments that have caused a rapid expansion of the healthcare system (Fremgen, 2012).
Therefore, healthcare professionals must have a good understanding of the legal system for a variety of reasons (Fremgen, 2012). The advanced state of medical technology creates new legal, ethical, moral, and financial problems for the consumer and the healthcare practitioner. Patients have become more aware of their legal rights. Court cases and decisions have had a greater impact than ever on the way healthcare professionals practice business in the medical field (Fremgen, 2012).
Hospitals in the United States too emerged from institutions, notably almshouses, that provided care and custody for the ailing poor to multifaceted public institutions. Rooted in this tradition of charity, the public hospital traces its ancestry to the development of cities and community efforts to shelter and care for the chronically ill, deprived, and disabled (National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, 2013).
The history of health care has evolved. Accordingly, respond to the following questions:

• Which health care laws are still in practice? Why?
• What are the functions of a hospital? How have these functions evolved over the past twenty years?

Justify your answers with appropriate research and reasoning by using examples and references from textbooks, the South University Online Library, and other acceptable references. Cite sources in the APA format.