The Courts

The Supreme Court on Friday (April 3) postponed oral arguments in two major health care cases, one involving states’ attempts to regulate pharmacy benefit managers and the other involving the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.

CMS’ rule requiring hospitals to disclose their prices does not infringe on hospitals’ First Amendment rights, the agency argues in recent court papers while also dismissing the administrative costs that hospitals will incur to comply with the rule.

President Donald Trump on Sunday reaffirmed his support for the ongoing challenge to the Affordable Care Act, even as the suit threatens to strip protections for people with preexisting conditions in the midst of a global epidemic, infuriating health care advocates and Democratic officials.

All parties involved in the high-profile Texas v. USA case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act asked the Supreme Court to approve an extended briefing schedule that would still allow oral arguments to be held in the October session.

A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments Friday (March 20) on the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term insurance plans that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act’s market reforms.

Three liberal-leaning judges will decide the fate of CMS’ so-called site neutral policy, a federal appeals court revealed Wednesday (March 18).

A federal judge on Wednesday (March 4) invalidated Michigan’s Medicaid work requirements in the latest court decision against CMS’ approval of the controversial policy. Utah is now the only state in the country with active Medicaid work requirements, though penalties for non-compliance do not kick in until later this year.

The federal government’s new policy of penalizing legal immigrants if they are deemed likely to use Medicaid took heat Wednesday (Feb. 26) from two federal appellate judges, who invoked the coronavirus outbreak to emphasize the importance of encouraging people to seek preventive health care.

Planned Parenthood is urging Congress to reverse the Trump administration’s rule that blocks Title X recipients from either offering abortion services or referring patients for the services, after the full panel of the Ninth Circuit Court on Monday ruled 7-4 that the rule can go into effect.