Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Conservative Lawyer's Warnings About Surprise Medical Bill Laws Dismissed By Experts, But Foreshadow Larger Battle
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)
