Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In ACA Preventive Care Case, Supreme Court Debates The Word 'Independent'
The New York Times: Supreme Court Wrestles With Challenge To Affordable Care Act Over Free Preventive Care
The Supreme Court appeared divided during arguments on Monday over the constitutionality of a provision of the Affordable Care act that can require insurance companies to offer some types of preventive care for free. At issue is a part of the 2010 health care law that established a task force that determines certain kinds of preventative health measures that insurance companies are required to cover. (VanSickle, 4/21)
Modern Healthcare: What The Supreme Court ACA Case Is About
Braidwood Management, Kelley Orthodontics and six individuals seek to invalidate the preventive coverage mandate on two grounds: That medical care such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PreP, to prevent HIV infection, violates their Christian beliefs against homosexuality and that the federal entities that decide what services insurers much cover lack constitutional authority. (Early, 4/21)
Also —
KFF Health News: The Ranks Of Obamacare ‘Fixers’ Axed In Trump’s Reduction Of Health Agency Workforce
They’re the fixers, the ones who step in when Affordable Care Act enrollees have a problem with their coverage, like a newborn incorrectly left off a policy or discovering that a rogue broker had signed them up or switched their plan without consent. Specially trained caseworkers help resolve such issues, which might otherwise cause consumers to rack up large doctors’ bills or prevent them or their family members from getting care. Now, though, the broad federal reduction in force set in motion by the Trump administration has cut the ranks of those caseworkers. (Appleby, 4/22)
In other news about Medicaid coverage —
South Dakota Searchlight: States That Enshrined Medicaid Expansion In Their Constitutions, Including SD, Could Be In A Bind
Voters in Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota have limited their options, should Congress cut Medicaid, by enshrining its expansion in their constitutions. (Chatlani, 4/21)
MedPage Today: Medicaid Often Restricts Access To Heart-Protective Diabetes Agents
Medicaid plans often put up barriers around newer classes of diabetes medications that offer cardio protection, according to a national study of formulary policies as of March 2024. Mainly driven by restrictive formulary policies in the adult managed care organization (MCO) plans that cover over 80% of Medicaid enrollees, an estimated 1.7 million adults -- 25% of Medicaid beneficiaries with diabetes -- had restricted SGLT2 inhibitor availability, and 2.7 million (40%) had restricted GLP-1 receptor agonist availability. (Monaco, 4/21)
