Tag Archives: court

Cities sue administration over ACA policy

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About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

Photo: Marylandstater – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. en:Image:1city hall baltimore.jpg, Public Domain, Link

The latest in the Affordable Care Act legal battles: U.S. cities suing President Trump and top health officials at HHS for sabotage.

The suit, filed Aug. 2 by Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago and Columbus, plus two people from Charlottesville, Va., (which has some of the highest ACA insurance premiums in the country) accuses the administration of “intentionally and unconstitutionally” undermining the ACA, including by expanding non-ACA plans and discouraging enrollment. Continue reading →

Close eye on SEC filings uncovers DOJ targeting of another Medicare Advantage insurer

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About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Bob Herman

We reported last month that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the risk-adjustment practices of UnitedHealth Group and WellMed Medical Management. At the time, a question remained about whether the DOJ would look into the risk-adjustment or claims-coding activities of other health insurers.

Turns out that Bob Herman, the health care business reporter for Axios, already had the answer. Continue reading →

Judge cites anti-competitive concerns in blocking Anthem-Cigna merger

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About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

By AgnosticPreachersKid (Own work) (CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL), via Wikimedia Commons

By AgnosticPreachersKid (Own work) (CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL), via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has blocked the merger of Anthem and Cigna, the second court ruling this year against megamergers in the health insurance industry.

On Thursday, Anthem said it would appeal the Feb. 8 ruling promptly and request an expedited hearing. Cigna said it would review the decision and evaluate its options. Anthem has a financial incentive to appeal given that under the terms of the merger proposal, Anthem agreed to pay Cigna $1.85 billion if the deal fell apart. Continue reading →

ProPublica writer ties health disparities to the financial beat

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About Susan Heavey

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

Covering health disparities is not a beat solely for health reporters.

Take Paul Kiel: A reporter at ProPublica, Kiel’s beat covering consumer finance usually has him covering a string of pocketbook issues, such as high-cost loans and debt collection practices.

But when those pocketbook stories started drifting into the health realm, Kiel found himself like many other journalists on other beats suddenly digging into the complicated world of medicine, providers and costs. Continue reading →

Effects of latest court ruling on Obamacare remain to be seen

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About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

scalesOnce again, the Affordable Care Act was in court.

In a case brought by House Republicans, a federal district judge ruled on May 12 that the cost-sharing subsidies are illegal. Congress had never explicitly appropriated those funds. The White House contends that the authority to spend the money is in the ACA statute itself. The judge didn’t buy it. Continue reading →

Supreme Court case could affect states’ efforts to develop big-claims databases

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About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Photo: dbking via Flickr

Photo: dbking via Flickr

Here’s a story that’s easy to overlook but could affect the future of health care cost and quality management. On Dec. 2,* the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual, a case that could determine whether states can include data from employer-sponsored health plans when compiling information for all-payer claims databases (APCDs).

If you don’t look closely at the case, it may appear to be nothing more than arcane wrangling over whether employers can use a 1974 law to shield themselves from having to share their health insurance data with the public. But it has important implications for the 18 states that have passed laws to develop APCDs, and 20 others that are considering such legislation. Continue reading →