Conservative Lawyer’s Warnings About Surprise Medical Bill Laws Dismissed By Experts, But Foreshadow Larger Battle
While experts say a prominent legal expert's warnings over the constitutionality of legislation address surprise medical bills are weak, it is still unlikely that any new regulations will skate through without being challenged in court.
Modern Healthcare:
Conservative Legal Expert Calls Surprise Bill Proposals Unconstitutional
A prominent conservative legal expert is warning that congressional moves to regulate surprise out-of-network billing by physicians are unconstitutional and could be challenged in court. In a new legal brief, Paul Clement, a former Republican solicitor general who led the unsuccessful effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act in 2012, said bipartisan congressional proposals to cap out-of-network rates would violate the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment as well as the First Amendment right to freely associate. (Meyer, 6/21)
In other news from Capitol Hill —
The Hill:
Key Trump Proposal To Lower Drug Prices Takes Step Forward
One of President Trump’s major proposals to lower drug prices took a step forward on Friday. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent to the White House for review a proposal to lower certain drug prices in Medicare by linking them to the lower prices paid in other countries, an idea called the international pricing index. (Sullivan, 6/21)
