Late in the evening on Friday, Dec. 14, a Texas federal judge struck down the entire Affordable Care Act. It wasn’t long after that the California attorney general's office said California and other defendant states would challenge the ruling with an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  California and the others probably will focus on the various patient protections such as coverage for pre-existing conditions. Such an approach would by necessity also include the other patient protections such as Section 2706 of the Act. What we know now is that the law will remain in place through the appeal process up to its probable hearing before the Supreme Court.

"People like to understand things. It’s an earnest and charming quality of the human race. We like to flip to the back of the book to look at the answers. We like it when there’s a tidy way to summarize things. One or two takeaways, please. It’s why Aesop’s fables continue to do so well."

Late last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a guidance document significantly changing the way the department will handle waiver requests under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (Act).  This enhanced flexibility from the Act could lead to far greater variation across states in the types of plans offered, creating a “patchwork quilt” of benefits and services available to consumers.

As the second session of the 115^th Congress nears the election, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate recently agreed on a comprehensive legislative package to help end the scourge of opioid addiction.  The opioid issue, which federal and local legislatures across the country have been grappling with for several years, will soon see more federal dollars being focused on ways to help alleviate the destructive force associated with the addiction. 

The U.S. Senate today passed by a vote of 93-6 legislation that ensures that sports health professionals traveling to another state with athletic teams remain covered by their malpractice insurance. The bill now advances to the president’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law. As lawmakers drafted the legislation, the American Chiropractic Association worked to ensure that doctors of chiropractic, along with other providers, were included in the bill’s final language.