By Will Blackford, Class of 2017 Recently, the Trump administration put forth two key initiatives to ease the burden of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and to stabilize the Obamacare marketplace. First, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) quietly updated its website with a statement indicating that the agency will not reject 2016 tax filings that …
SAMHSA Final Rule Updates the 42 C.F.R. Part 2 Substance Abuse Confidentiality Requirements
By Will Blackford, Class of 2017 After four decades of anticipation, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (“SAMHSA”) published on January 18 a Final Rule modernizing the laws governing how providers share data about individuals with a substance use disorder (“SUD”). The affected regulations, known as 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (“Part 2”), were …
Proposed Telehealth Bill
By Ann Hogan, Class of 2018 After years of debate, on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, the Texas Senate unanimously passed Bill 1107, legalizing telehealth and telemedicine in the state of Texas and is to take effect immediately. Telemedicine is a health care service delivered by a licensed physician or health professional to a patient at …
Increased Price Transparency
By Zachary Gureasko, Class of 2017 On President Donald Trump’s website, one of his objectives is: “Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, especially doctors and healthcare organizations like clinics and hospitals. Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure.” President Trump believes that …
Anthem-Cigna Merger Blocked by Federal Judge
By Ann Hogan, Class of 2018 In July of 2016, the Department of Justice brought suit to block the $54 billion merger of Anthem and Cigna. In the complaint, the DOJ alleged, “Anthem’s purchase would eliminate it as a competitive threat and substantially lessen competition in numerous markets around the country. The harm to competition in …
Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines—A Summary
By Kim Macdonald, Class of 2018 Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines—A Summary Currently, health insurers are restricted to each state for purposes of regulation. One primary health reform proposal is to allow insurers to sell health insurance to out-of-state markets. Proponents argue that removing the state line restrictions will encourage competition, increase consumer choice, …
ACA- Benefits and Risks
By Zachary Gureasko, Class of 2017 The future of the health care industry is as uncertain as ever, pending the potential repeal (and hopefully subsequent replacement) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), colloquially known as “Obamacare.” On January 20, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order titled “Executive Order Minimizing …
The Prevalence of Health Savings Accounts Predicted to Increase During the Trump Administration
By Ann Hogan, Class of 2018 It is no secret that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a top priority on the Trump Administration’s agenda. It is predicted that the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) will increase and may be used as a replacement for the ACA. The Republicans favor competition among the insurance …
Block Grants—A Summary
By Kim Macdonald, Class of 2018 A block grant is a proposed strategy used for managing Medicaid, which provides control of the program in state hands by placing a flat cap on federal funding. Proponents argue these locked lump sum payments would provide states greater freedom in regulating health insurance. As a result, less federal …