The Courts

The Supreme Court punted back to the lower court the Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht case, which focuses on whether Fosamax maker Merck should be held liable for injury to consumers even though FDA rejected the company’s proposal to include warnings on its drug label.

Five House committee chairs stepped up pressure on the Department of Justice and the White House counsel to hand over documents showing why the administration recently shifted positions in Texas v. Azar and is now calling on the courts to scrap the entire Affordable Care Act, warning lawmakers  may issue a subpoena if the administration  doesn't provide documents and a transcribed interview of Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought by May 24.

The attorneys general for five states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday (May 13) over a final rule issued earlier this month that repeals an Obama-era rule allowing union dues to be deducted from Medicaid payments made to independent home health workers.

Federal D.C. District Court Judge Richard Leon will hear arguments on May 21 in the ongoing lawsuit to overturn the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term health plans.

The Trump administration late Wednesday (May 1) told a federal appeals court it agrees with a district judge’s ruling that the entire health care law is invalid, yet also asked the court to retain certain ACA provisions the administration claims would not harm the plaintiffs, including updates to Medicare fraud laws – a move that left key legal experts scratching their heads.

The Trump administration on Monday told existing association health plans they can continue to operate despite a recent federal court ruling that axed key pieces of the federal rule that expanded the plans.

The Department of Labor on Friday (April 26) appealed a federal court’s March 28 decision that the Trump administration rule promoting association health plans (AHPs) violates the law, but DOL has yet to say whether it will ask the court to pause the ruling until the appeal is resolved.

New Hampshire wants a federal judge to let the state help defend CMS’ approval of its plan to implement Medicaid work requirements.

Vermont is freezing approvals of new association health plans (AHPs) and barring existing plans from enrolling new members or marketing their products following a federal judge’s March 28 decision that invalidated key parts of the Trump administration’s AHP rule and remanded the regulation back to the Department of Labor.