Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court To Review Trump Abortion Rules For Family Planning Funds
San Francisco Chronicle: Supreme Court OKs Review Of Trump Rules On Abortion Referrals
The Supreme Court granted requests by abortion-rights advocates Monday to review Trump administration rules that have barred recipients of U.S. family-planning funds from referring any of their 4 million low-income patients for abortions. The rules, in effect since June 2019, also require federally funded family-planning providers to place their abortion clinics in separate facilities, a mandate that has already driven Planned Parenthood out of the program. The Biden administration, however, could repeal its predecessor’s rules before the court decides their legality. (Egelko, 2/22)
The Hill: Supreme Court To Hear Challenge On Family Planning Program
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Trump administration’s changes to a federally funded family planning program that pushed hundreds of providers to leave. The court announced Monday it will hear a case brought by the American Medical Association (AMA), Planned Parenthood and others arguing that the Trump administration’s changes to the Title X family planning program that bans providers from referring patients for abortions violates federal law and harms patient care. (Hellmann, 2/22)
In Medicaid news —
AP: Biden Asks High Court To Drop 2 Trump-Era Medicaid Cases
The Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court not to hear arguments in two cases on its March calendar about the Trump administration’s plan to remake Medicaid by requiring recipients to work. The Biden administration has been moving to roll back those Trump-era plans and cited “greatly changed circumstances” in asking Monday that the cases be dropped from the court’s argument calendar. They are currently scheduled to be heard on March 29. The court has been hearing arguments by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic. (2/22)
NBC News: Justice Department Asks Supreme Court To Cancel Argument In Case On Trump's Medicaid Work Requirements
The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to cancel argument in a case testing the government's ability to approve state programs that impose a work requirement on recipients of Medicaid. The Trump administration approved plans by two states, Arkansas and New Hampshire, to deny coverage to poor people unless they were working, volunteering, or training for a job. Medicaid recipients in those states sued, arguing that the plans would let states kick people off Medicaid for failing to get jobs that had become scarce during the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. (Williams, 2/22)
In hospice news —
Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Won't Weigh In On False Claims Act Standards Case
The Supreme Court declined to clarify how false claims should be verified under the False Claims Act, which could draw out some related healthcare cases, legal experts said. Hospice provider Care Alternatives asked the Supreme Court to review the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' determination that a false claim could arise if an expert contradicted a physician's reasoning for recommending hospice treatment. That threshold was lower than most other appellate courts' rulings, which found that a reasonable difference of doctors' opinions was not enough to certify a false claim. (Kacik, 2/22)
