On March 10, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”). This $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package not only includes a whole host of healthcare-related provisions, but, along with...more
3/29/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
California v Texas ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enrollment ,
Medicaid ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
SCOTUS ,
Subsidies ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Trump Administration
On December 28, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Appropriations Act”) was passed into law. The Appropriations Act included the No Surprises Act (“Act”), which seeks to protect patients from surprise medical...more
1/4/2021
/ American Medical Association ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health Care Providers ,
New Legislation ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Physicians ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Relief Measures ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
Trump Administration
On November 10, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for California v. Texas, a case that will potentially decide the fate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).
As discussed in prior...more
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and alongside it the high probability of a conservative successor to the open seat she left behind, is likely to shift the Court substantially to the right. Among the...more
January 30th, 2020 marked a dramatic change in Medicaid funding, as the Trump Administration and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) showcased a plan, called the “Healthy Adult Opportunity,” that would permit...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
On December 27, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion that ruled against the Trump Administration in its plan to cut funding from the 340B Drug Pricing Program (“340B...more
1/15/2019
/ American Hospital Association ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B ,
Trump Administration
On December 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), in collaboration with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and several offices within the White House,...more
12/19/2018
/ Competition ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Hospitals ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Price Transparency ,
Telehealth ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
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 Wednesday, August 1, 2018, the Trump Administration issued the Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance Final Rule (the “Final Rule”), expanding the coverage length of “short-term, limited-duration insurance” policies under...more
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
On Friday, February 9, 2018, President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Budget”), a two-year budget which, in significant part, made substantial revisions to Medicare, including the Medicare Advantage (MA)...more
2/16/2018
/ Bipartisan Budget Act ,
Budget Control Act of 2011 ,
Federal Funding ,
FQHC ,
Health Care Providers ,
IPAB ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Medicare Part D ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Supplemental Benefits ,
Telehealth ,
Trump Administration
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
On November 13, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule, “Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting...more
11/20/2017
/ Ambulatory Surgery Centers ,
American Hospital Association ,
Budget Cuts ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Covered Entities ,
Drug Pricing ,
Final Rules ,
Health Clinics ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
HRSA ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Payment Reform ,
New Rules ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Outpatient Quality Reporting ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Public Health Service Act ,
Section 340B ,
Trump Administration
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
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
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