Health Insurance & Coverage

  • Read more: EVENT (11/12-13): The New Health Care Industry – Integration, Consolidation, Competition in the Wake of the Affordable Care Act
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    EVENT (11/12-13): The New Health Care Industry – Integration, Consolidation, Competition in the Wake of the Affordable Care Act

    The New Health Care Industry: Integration, Consolidation, Competition in the Wake of the Affordable Care Act Thursday, November 12 Center Launch, Celebratory Reception with speaker Kathleen Sebelius — former Secretary, Health and Human Services 4:00–6:30pm Friday, November 13 Inaugural Conference 8:30am–5:00pm Attendance to both events it free, but registration is required. This conference marks the launch…

  • Read more: The Once and Future Cadillac Tax
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    The Once and Future Cadillac Tax

    By Emma Sandoe Over the last few weeks, health economists have been defending the often politically friendless “Cadillac Tax.” This policy, as part of the Affordable Care Act, will begin taxing certain generous health insurance plans starting in 2018. Since World War II, the IRS has held that employer-sponsored health insurance should not been taxed,…

  • Read more: NEXT WEEK (10/15): Obamacare, the Contraceptive Mandate, and Religious Freedom Discussion
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    NEXT WEEK (10/15): Obamacare, the Contraceptive Mandate, and Religious Freedom Discussion

    Obamacare, the Contraceptive Mandate, and Religious Freedom Discussion Thursday, October 15, 2015 12:00 – 1:00 PM Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012 Harvard Law School, Cambridge MA [Map] The Harvard Federalist Society will be hosting Mark Rienzi next Thursday, October 15 to discuss the current contraceptive mandate and accommodation lawsuits. Petrie-Flom Center Executive Director Holly F. Lynch will…

  • Read more: Which state will be the next to expand Medicaid?
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    Which state will be the next to expand Medicaid?

    By Emma Sandoe The last week has yielded significant progress in several states currently debating Medicaid expansion. Thirty-one states and DC have already expanded the program, made an option for states due to the Supreme Court’s NFIB v Sebelius decision. Many state legislatures are coming back into session from summer recesses bringing into focus discussions…

  • Read more: Presidential Campaigns Focus on Drug Costs
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    Presidential Campaigns Focus on Drug Costs

    By Katherine Kwong Drug prices have become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail following recent stories such as the sudden spike in price from $13.50 to $750 for the parasitic infection treatment Daraprim. This story is the latest example of a growing number of complaints about steep increases and high prices for many…

  • Read more: Medicaid Is Not a Welfare Program
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    Medicaid Is Not a Welfare Program

    By Michael Anne Kyle Medicaid is often thought of as a welfare program because of the essential role it plays in providing health insurance for low-income people. However, looks can be deceiving. In terms of scale and scope, Medicaid is rapidly becoming a powerhouse player in health care. Medicaid enrollment is booming as a result…

  • Read more: RFRA Jumps The Shark: The 8th Circuit Strikes Down the Contraception Accommodation (Part 2)
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    RFRA Jumps The Shark: The 8th Circuit Strikes Down the Contraception Accommodation (Part 2)

    By Gregory M. Lipper Thomas Jefferson famously said that “[i]t does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” Note what Jefferson did not say: “my neighbor is entitled to pick my pocket and break my leg, so long…

  • Read more: RFRA Jumps The Shark: The 8th Circuit Strikes Down the Contraception Accommodation (Part 1)
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    RFRA Jumps The Shark: The 8th Circuit Strikes Down the Contraception Accommodation (Part 1)

    By Gregory M. Lipper On Thursday, the Eighth Circuit all but assured that major parts of the Affordable Care Act will return to the Supreme Court’s chopping block. This time the issue is whether an accommodation—enabling religious objectors to opt out of offering contraceptive coverage to their employees—itself violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)….

  • Read more: A Circuit Split on Contraceptives Coverage
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    A Circuit Split on Contraceptives Coverage

    By Holly Fernandez Lynch Perhaps foreshadowed by the dissent in the 10th Circuit that I wrote about here, the 8th Circuit has now officially launched a circuit split regarding the legal validity of the accommodation that allows modified compliance/objection to the contraceptives coverage mandate.  Unlike the seven other circuits to have considered the question since Hobby…

  • Read more: I Concur with the Dissent (or, More on Little Sisters)
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    I Concur with the Dissent (or, More on Little Sisters)

    By Holly Fernandez Lynch On September 3, the 10th Circuit declined to rehear en banc several challenges to the contraceptives coverage mandate filed by non-profit organizations, including Little Sisters of the Poor. As SCOTUSBlog explains, these organizations had not themselves asked for en banc review, having already moved on to SCOTUS, but the judges have…