Administrative Law › Health Law › Constitutional Law

Court Grants Unexpected Victory to Providers on Medicare DSH Adjustment

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s opinion in Nazareth Hosp. v. Sebelius, slip op. no. 10-3513 furnished a surprising victory to two providers that challenged the calculation of the...more

FDA Emphasizes Patient-Specific Prescriptions

On March 7, 2013, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to compounding pharmacy Medi-Fare Drug & Home Health Center (Medi-Fare Drug), taking the FDA's most aggressive position to date...more

Michigan Court of Appeals Approves Health Benefits for Unrelated Co-Residents of State Employees

On January 8, 2013, the Michigan Court of Appeals, in a two-to-one decision, held that the Michigan Civil Service Commission could extend eligibility in the State Health Plan to “other eligible adult individuals” (OEAI) who...more

Legal Challenges to ACA Not Quite Finished

If you thought that the legal battle over the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") was put to rest in NFIB v. Sebelius, you may want to pay attention to Liberty University v. Geithner. ...more

Health Care Reform Update -- November 12, 2012

In This Issue: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act; Other HHS and Federal Regulatory Initiatives; Other Congressional and State Initiatives; Other Health Care News; and Hearings and Mark-Ups Scheduled. Excerpt...more

National Federation Of Business V. Sebelius: A Decision For The Ages - A Comment On Chief Justice Roberts’ Majority Opinion

The Conventional Wisdom - Earlier this year, prior to the oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court (the “Court”) in National Federation of Business, et al. v. Sebelius ( “National Federation” case), 132...more

National Defense Authorization Act Precludes OFCCP Jurisdiction Over TRICARE Provider

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board has found that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) lacks jurisdiction over Florida Hospital of Orlando, a TRICARE health services provider,...more

Wheaton College v. Sebelius and Belmont Abbey College v. Sebelius

Brief Of Amici Curiae Center For Constitutional Jurisprudence, American Civil Rights Union, And CATO Institute In Support Of...

In January, when the Department of Health and Human Services announced that qualifying health insurance plans under Obamacare would have to cover contraceptives and "morning after" pills, many religious institutions — most...more

Health Care Reform Update -- October 8, 2012

In This Issue: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); Other HHS and Federal Regulatory Initiatives; Other Congressional and State Initiatives; and Other Health Care News. Excerpt from Implementation of the...more

Hall v. Sebelius

Brief of the CATO Institute as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioners

When Brian Hall, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and other over-65 retirees requested to opt out of Medicare's hospital insurance coverage (because they preferred their existing private coverage), the Social Security...more

HHS/CCIIO Revises Temporary Enforcement Safe Harbor on Contraceptive Coverage Offered by Religiously Affiliated Tax-Exempt...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”) generally requires health insurance issuers and group health plans (other than grandfathered arrangements) to cover specified preventive health services without...more

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: The Decision

What Happens to Floridians who do not Buy Health Insurance? On June 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, that the mandate in the Patient Protection...more

Closure of Stark Whole Hospital Exception Survives Court Challenge

On August 16, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed a challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") provision that effectively eliminates the "whole hospital"...more

Crystal Ball Perspective: Will Healthcare Reform be Repealed if Romney Wins the Presidential Election? [Video]

In this video, attorney Eric Athey, Co-Chair of the McNees Labor and Employment group, discusses the possibility of a repeal of PPACA. Mitt Romney has pledged that, if elected, he will work to repeal the Act. However, given...more

Not Prepared for Healthcare Reform? Three things employers need to focus on now. [Video]

Many employers were caught off guard by the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act or Healthcare Reform. Most expected the Act to be struck down. Those employers that...more

Facilities May Have Duty To Issue Photo Identification To Comply with PA Voter ID Law

Pennsylvania’s controversial Voter ID Law may activate a new duty for nursing homes, personal care homes, and assisted living residences to issue photo identification to residents if necessary to enable them to...more

Independence Day: Time Also to Celebrate Fair and Impartial Courts

Lane Powell Counsel to the Firm Matt Claman authored a July 4 Alaska Dispatch article titled “Independence Day: Time Also to Celebrate Fair and Impartial Courts.” In the article, Claman discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s...more

Ober|Kaler Health Care Reform Update: In the Wake of the SCOTUS’s Affordable Care Act Decision: What’s Next for Health Care...

In March 2010 the hotly contested Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) (ACA or the Act) was signed into law by President Obama. Since its enactment, some health care providers have struggled to meet the Act’s current...more

States Begin to Make Decisions Regarding Medicaid Expansion and Exchanges

Following the Supreme Court’s June 28, 2012 decision in NFIB v. Sebelius upholding most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), state governors were left to make vital decisions regarding their states’...more

Healthcare Reform: What Connecticut Employers Need to Know After Supreme Court’s Health Law Ruling

On June 28, 2012, the Supreme court ruled that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”) is constitutional. What does the decision mean for employers? The Supreme Court’s decision rests on some...more

Access to Abortion Services Blocked or Limited by State Laws

A federal judge has indefinitely extended his injunction of a new Mississippi law that requires abortion clinic physicians to be board-certified OB-GYNs and to have patient-admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The law...more

Upheld: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

On June 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Supreme Court’s decision is based upon the review of two provisions of the Act: (1) the...more

Round Two: Congress Reacts to the SCOTUS ACA Ruling by Thomas J. Spulak and Allison F. Kassir

Like most things in Washington today, no debate ever really ends, with the losers vowing to fight on and looking to find opportunities to snatch defeat from the opponent’s jaws of victory. For example, critics of the...more

Obamacare Myths Debunked

When the Supreme Court upheld the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last week, the rhetoric started flying fast and furious. In lieu of debating the actual merits and policy of the health care law, its...more

Health Care Reform is (almost 100%) Constitutional; What Next? Kimberly I. McCarthy, Esq.

On June 28, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided the first consolidated cases on Health Care Reform. Those cases challenged the constitutionality of two provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...more