How Does King v. Burwell Decision Affect the Affordable Care Act?
Technological innovation has always been at the center of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces and has never been more important than it is now. Changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic have clearly illustrated a...more
As recently as March, 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic upended public life, the Colorado legislature was poised to enact significant new health care reforms. ...more
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the nation, your team at ML Strategies continues to monitor legislative and regulatory updates at the federal and state level. Each week, ML Strategies will provide weekly updates...more
...On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Whip James Clyburn, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, and Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone held a press conference on a...more
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) removed pre-existing condition barriers, defined a broad range of essential health benefits, and improved access to coverage and care for millions of people nationwide. However, the ACA has thus...more
At the end of July, CMS approved two Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers submitted by Wisconsin and Maine for the purpose of establishing state reinsurance programs. There has been a flurry of 1332 waiver activity recently...more
States are increasingly looking for ways to improve stability in their individual insurance marketplaces. One way is through reinsurance programs – systems in which multiple insurance companies share risk by purchasing...more
We have recently seen an uptick in state initiatives designed to skirt requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We last wrote about Idaho’s failed attempt to permit health insurers to sell noncompliant plans, which...more
In what may be the first enforcement action taken by a state regulator against an “Obamacare” health plan for provider network problems, the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner imposed a fine and suspended...more
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), by a vote of 217-213 on May 4, 2017, with all Democrats and 20 Republicans opposing the bill. The legislation traversed a...more
On February 27, 2017, Senate Bill 210 (“S.B. 210”) was introduced into the Nevada Legislature, which paves the way for expanded anesthesiology practice and patient care opportunities in the State of Nevada....more
On Thursday, April 13, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized a long-awaited regulation intended to stabilize the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual health insurance marketplace. The final rule tracks closely...more
Arkansas - Governor Proposes Changes to Medicaid Expansion Waiver as House Passes Bill to Cap Expansion Enrollment - Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) released a proposal to amend the State's Medicaid expansion waiver by...more
Last week, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D- Ore.) introduced the “Creating Transparency to Have Drug Rebates Unlocked (C-THRU) Act of 2017.” As its name suggests, it seeks to require parties (e.g., PBMs)...more
On March 6, 2017, Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled two bills that aim to repeal and replace the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The bills, collectively called the American Health...more
On Monday, two House committees with oversight over health care and taxation, Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means, released draft reconciliation bills designed to repeal and alter significant portions of the Patient...more
Until very recently, employers were at risk of receiving steep fines if they reimbursed employees for non-employer sponsored medical care – the Affordable Care Act (ACA) included fines of up to $36,500 a year per employee for...more
Late last week, two major proposals arose that will have a significant impact on the health care industry. First, the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under new HHS Secretary Tom Price...more
In July 2016, following a lengthy review, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), together with several states, sued to block two proposed health insurer mergers: Aetna/Humana and Anthem/Cigna. On January...more
On February 17, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule aimed at reforming and stabilizing the individual and small group health insurance markets. When (or if) finalized, the...more
Wednesday, the Trump Administration released its first proposed regulation seeking to stabilize the individual insurance market – in particular, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance exchange market (or marketplace). Amidst...more
In a continuation of recent Department of Justice (DOJ) successes challenging mergers, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently enjoined two more proposed mergers brought and litigated under the Obama...more
A federal report finds that Marketplace premiums are lower in expansion states; Massachusetts and Pennsylvania launch prescription drug monitoring systems; and Kentucky submits a slightly modified Medicaid expansion waiver to...more
CMS’s risk adjustment program data signals an improving risk pool while the agency announces plans to modify the program; California enrolls 134,000 undocumented immigrant children into Medicaid; and Oregon approves increases...more
CMS targets Medicaid managed care pass-through payments; California proposes “California Qualified Health Plans” for the undocumented; and a new study finds out-of-pocket costs were reduced by nearly a third for Medicaid...more