The final rule that will implement the law commonly referred to as the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (Section 6002 of the Patient Affordable Care Act, as amended) will be published soon. On February 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) filed the final rule that is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register… Continue Reading
Category Archives: PPACA
Subscribe to PPACA RSS FeedFull Medicaid Expansion Required for States to See Full Federal Funding
Posted in Department of Health and Human Services, PPACAYesterday, the federal government announced that the federal government will not provide 100% funding for states that do not participate in the full Medicaid expansion contained in PPACA, as described by the Washington Post. Partial expansions will be permitted but will only receive matching federal money at the existing rate, at least for 2014-2017. As we… Continue Reading
More Legal Battles on the Constitutionality of Healthcare Reform
Posted in PPACAAfter a quiet fall, one of the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of PPACA has new life. In a brief order, the U.S. Supreme Court has sent the Liberty University v. Geitner case to be heard again by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals out of Richmond, Virginia. As the AP mentioned in its piece run by the Washington… Continue Reading
Another Extension for States to Decide About Insurance Exchanges
Posted in Department of Health and Human Services, Payer/Insurance Reform, PPACAFor the second time in a week, the federal government has extended deadlines relating to state insurance exchanges. Today was originally the deadline for each state to submit an application to the federal government if the state would be running its own insurance exchange. For any state that does not set up its own exchange, the federal government… Continue Reading
David Moore v. John Deere Health Care Plan Inc.: The Mostly Right Way for Managed Care Organizations to Terminate an Incompetent Network Provider
Posted in Payer/Insurance Reform, PPACAWhen facing an incompetent network health care provider and angry members, a managed care organization (MCO), such as a health maintenance organization (HMO), a preferred provider organization, or a physician-hospital organization, must take action to protect its members. How can the MCO terminate the provider’s contract without becoming liable to that provider for damages? In… Continue Reading
U.S. Supreme Court Rules the Individual Mandate Is Constitutional and Limits Medicaid Expansion Laws
Posted in Department of Health and Human Services, PPACAThe decision we’ve all been waiting for is in — the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the statute commonly known as the individual insurance mandate (everyone must have minimum health insurance coverage or pay a penalty) is constitutional under Congress’ taxing power. Because the individual mandate was upheld, the rest of the Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) has also survived. The… Continue Reading
PPACA decision likely to come Thursday
Posted in PPACAThe U.S. Supreme Court has completed announcing its decisions for today, and still no decision on PPACA (Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida (No.11-398) and National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (No. 11-393)). The Court is sitting again on Thursday and will likely announce decisions in the remaining cases from this term… Continue Reading
Insurers Promise Some Continued Benefits, Regardless of Supreme Court Decision on PPACA
Posted in Payer/Insurance Reform, PPACAAs we get closer to receiving a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of PPACA and its individual insurance mandate, three major insurers have committed to continue some benefits that were required by PPACA. These announcements address some of the uncertainty being experienced by insureds who don’t know what will happen or how quickly changes… Continue Reading
Affordable Care Act Grants Improve Consumer Health Awareness
Posted in Community Benefit, Payer/Insurance Reform, PPACAThe Affordable Care Act provides for nearly $30 million in grant funding for states to establish and strengthen Consumer Assistance Programs. States must apply for the grants and articulate how they will use the funding to assist their residents with problems and related questions regarding health insurance coverage. Consumer Assistance Programs provide assistance to state… Continue Reading
PPACA – Day 3
Posted in PPACAA long day today at the U.S. Supreme Court for PPACA attorneys. This morning, argument was all about whether any unconstitutional parts of PPACA can be severed from the entire Act or if the whole Act must be stricken. As before, oral arguments are available in audio and transcript on the Court’s website. The afternoon… Continue Reading
PPACA – Day 2
Posted in PPACADefinitely more drama today, as the Supreme Court heard 2 hours of arguments on the constitutionality of PPACA. The general opinion following arguments is that the Justices’ questions indicate they may not view the government’s position favorably. The audio and transcript from today have been posted by the Court, and analysis from Court watchers abounds, including… Continue Reading
PPACA – Day 1
Posted in PPACAToday’s arguments at the Supreme Court were 90 minutes on the issue of whether the Court has jurisdiction to decide the constitutional questions now, or if the challengers must wait until the individual mandate and its associated penalties begin in 2014. The audio and transcript of today’s arguments are now available from the Court. Not a… Continue Reading
Coming Monday — Supreme Court Arguments on PPACA
Posted in Department of Health and Human Services, PPACANext week, the drama begins — the Supreme Court will hold what promises to be the biggest (an impressive 6 hours) and most important series of oral arguments of the decade, if not the century — to decide the future of Obama’s health care reform, PPACA. The government will be primarily represented by Solicitor General Don Verilli; arguing most… Continue Reading
Another Appellate Court Rules PPACA Individual Mandate is Constitutional
Posted in PPACAAs described in further detail in SSD’s Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog here and on the ACA Litigation Blog here, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a decision(pdf) yesterday in Seven-Sky v. Holder that the individual insurance mandate is constitutional. This brings the total to 2 appellate courts for the law (the… Continue Reading
Unexpected issue in the PPACA litigation may effect timing of a decision
Posted in PPACAThe recent decision(pdf) by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Liberty University case may change the path the PPACA cases take in the United States Supreme Court and could even mean that a definitive decision on the individual insurance mandate wouldn’t come until 2016 or later. Until now, most commentators have assumed that… Continue Reading
PPACA Lawsuits Quickly Moving to the U.S. Supreme Court
Posted in PPACAWell, this was a big week for the PPACA lawsuits, with multiple filings in the Supreme Court. These quick moves seem designed to get the case heard this term, which means a decision would come out by June 2012 and be fodder for the November 2012 presidential elections. It remains to be seen whether that decision upholds PPACA,… Continue Reading
PPACA Litigation — Updated Score Card
Posted in PPACAFollowing Friday’s oral arguments about the constitutionality of PPACA’s individual insurance mandate in the Seven-Sky v. Holder case and in anticipation of the government’s filing tomorrow in the U.S. Supreme Court, we thought it might be helpful to recap where the courts are on the issue. So far, the score in the courts of appeals is… Continue Reading
The Eleventh Circuit Holds Individual Mandate to be Unconstitutional But Severable
Posted in PPACAOn August 12, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit became the second U.S. appellate court to consider the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) for individuals to maintain health insurance or pay a monetary penalty. While the Sixth Circuit upheld the constitutionality… Continue Reading
More Disagreement about PPACA’s Constitutionality
Posted in PPACAToday, the Eleventh Circuit issued a whopping 300-page opinion (pdf) holding PPACA’s individual insurance mandate unconstitutional, in Florida v. HHS, siding with the numerous States that filed or have since joined the case. This is directly contrary to the Sixth Circuit’s June 26 decision in the Thomas Moore case, holding that the statute was constitutional. Notably, both courts delivered divided… Continue Reading
US Supreme Court Rejects Early Hearing of PPACA Consitutionality
Posted in PPACAOn Monday, the United States Supreme Court rejected the request by Virginia that the Court accept immediate review of whether PPACA is constitutional, without waiting for the case to go through the usual intermediate appeals process. Virginia had argued that the case will eventually be resolved by the US Supreme Court in any event, so the Court… Continue Reading
Accountable Care Organization Regulations
Posted in PPACAThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and HHS Office of the Inspector General posted proposed regulations and requests for comment to further implementation of the Medicare Shared Savings Program created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission published guidance regarding the antitrust implications of accountable… Continue Reading
Florida Court Declares All of PPACA Unconstitutional
Posted in PPACAIn a lengthy decision in Florida v. DHHS yesterday, a judge in Florida ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, including 26 state attorneys general, that all provisions of PPACA are unconstitutional, as they exceed Congress’ authority. First, the court decided that the individual insurance mandate went beyond the appropriate scope of Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce. The… Continue Reading
Patient-Centered Care and Accountable Care Organizations in an Era of Health Care Reform
Posted in Accountable Care Organizations, PPACAAt the 2011 University of Miami Global Business Forum, a panel was convened to discuss accountable care organizations (ACOs). This panel broke new ground in answering how health care reform and market forces will create patient-centered care and ACOs. ACO is defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as “an organization of health care providers… Continue Reading
More Constitutional Decisions on PPACA
Posted in Payer/Insurance Reform, PPACAThe constitutional challenges to PPACA keep coming in. So far, the tally is two decisions for and two against. Two decisions are currently on appeal, and the most recent decision will likely be headed to the appellate courts soon. The decisions in favor of PPACA: As reported earlier here and at SSD’s Sixth Circuit blog, in… Continue Reading