As we previewed last year regarding SB 184 and the establishment of the California Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA), California now has taken a significant regulatory step aimed at restraining growth in health care...more
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court in NFIB v. Sebelius struck down a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) which, for all intents and purposes, made the expansion of the Medicaid program...more
On December 18th, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals released a long-awaited decision on a significant challenge to the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), affirming a lower-court ruling that we discussed in a previous post....more
12/24/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Remand ,
Repeal ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Texas v US
One of the most controversial taxes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is in danger of repeal. The tax colloquially known as the “Cadillac Tax” was supposed to take effect in 2018, but Congress has delayed it twice. With the...more
On June 24, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order that purports to create a more transparent health care market for both patients and providers. The order attempts to decrease the prevalence of opaque pricing, while...more
On May 1, 2019, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed an initial brief (the “Brief”) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) on behalf of the United States, in favor of upholding the lower...more
5/7/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Briefs ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Oral Argument ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Trump Administration ,
US v Texas
In our December blog post, we discussed Texas v. United States, No. 19-10011 (5th Cir.), a Texas federal district court decision which struck down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The case is being appealed to...more
On Friday, December 14, 2018, a federal district court judge in Texas issued a widely anticipated opinion that struck down the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) as unconstitutional. The judge ruled in...more
Tuesday’s midterm elections showed that healthcare is now a top issue among voters, according to exit polls. In an NBC News poll, healthcare was the top issue for a plurality of voters, ahead of the economy, immigration, and...more
11/13/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Medicare ,
Opioid ,
Preexisting Conditions ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Repeal ,
Trump Administration
On February 26, 2018, twenty states (the “Plaintiffs”) jointly filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas requesting that the court strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...more
Despite the Trump Administration’s unsuccessful attempts to fully repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), the Administration has continued to target the ACA. In the Administration’s latest salvo, the Centers...more
The December 2017 Tax Reform Bill and the Repeal of the ACA’s Individual Mandate -
The tax reform bill signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017, notably includes the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s...more
December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law a sweeping tax reform bill passed by the House and the Senate on Wednesday that will materially affect virtually every sector in the economy, including, perhaps to a greater...more
The fifth Open Enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) started on November 1st, and will continue for a scant 45 days ending on December 15, 2017. This year, not only has the Open Enrollment been cut in half,...more
11/6/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Federal Funding ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Healthcare.gov ,
Individual Mandate ,
Insurance Industry ,
Open Enrollment ,
Public Health Insurance Marketplace ,
Trump Administration
Thursday, October 12th, on the heels of the recent and repeated failures to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), President Donald Trump signed an executive order nominally aimed at increasing competition in the...more
10/16/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Public Health Insurance Marketplace ,
Repeal ,
Subsidies ,
Trump Administration
After months of veiled threats, President Trump formally announced that his Administration will cease funding Cost-Sharing Reduction (“CSR”) payments, a key component of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) intended to help...more
While congressional Republicans spent much of September pushing for passage of the Graham-Cassidy “repeal and replace” bill, other time-sensitive legislative tasks were left to languish, including a September 30 deadline to...more
Even as Senators continue to consider “Graham-Cassidy,” the latest Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal legislation, insurance markets are already reacting to uncertainty and instability brought about by persistent GOP efforts to...more
The Future of CSRs – A Tale Told in Tweets. In follow-up to our May 5, 2017 blog post, “ACA Cost-Sharing Reductions: An Uncertain Future,” on August 16, 2017, the Trump Administration made an announcement (Announcement) that...more
In Part VII of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we described the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”), the Senate GOP’s latest Obamacare repeal and...more
Caveat: As of the date of this writing, there are indications that revisions to the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”) are in the works and may be issued as soon as Friday, June 30, 2017. If a revised BCRA is...more
6/30/2017
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
American Health Care Act (AHCA) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Medicaid ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
“Cost-sharing reductions” (CSRs) are one of the primary mechanisms under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to make health coverage affordable for consumers. CSRs are government payments to insurance companies for the purpose of...more
In Part V of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we outlined some of the key provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Roughly two weeks after our post...more
In Part IV of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we discussed a few post-inauguration developments with respect to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this Part V,...more
3/10/2017
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Medicaid ,
Planned Parenthood ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
In Part II of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we considered potential healthcare market consequences of a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In...more
12/21/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Malpractice Insurance ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Preexisting Conditions ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration