Articles by Girish Anand

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments on appeal of a district judge's ruling that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) is unconstitutional, but it is now questioning whether anyone has the standing to argue against the ruling. The Trump administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) has already agreed in toto with Judge Reed O'Connor's ruling, so the appeals court is...

In a case that various interest groups wanted to see end what is known as "Auer deference," the Supreme Court instead affirmed the 1997 decision behind the principle but in so doing sought to place limits on government regulators. The Auer deference means that justices at all levels should defer to government agencies' interpretations of regulations if the regulations are ambiguous. In a ...

Two years after an executive order by President Trump asked the Department of Labor (DOL) to develop an apprenticeship program, the department this morning finally announced it had issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to accomplish that very goal. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta The NPRM, according to the de...

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a case brought by health insurance companies claiming they are owed $12 billion by the government for unfunded Obamacare risk corridor payments. This 1932 photo of the Supreme Court, taken by a camera smuggled into the courtroom, is one of only two known to exist. Photography in the chamber i...

A coalition of five cities has sued President Trump and officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for deliberately "sabotaging" the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). The suit hinges on a clause in the Constitution and on the judicial review powers set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The clause in question is known as the "take care" clause, whi...

They're mad as heck and they ain't gonna take it anymore, so we'll see you in court, says Big Pharma. Merck, Eli Lilly and Amgen are being joined by the National Association of Advertisers in suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a rule taking effect in July that will force manufacturers to reveal pricing in their consumer drug ads. Their bone of contention: The rul...

The Trump administration is rolling out rules that will allow employers to fund Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) so that their employees can purchase health insurance on their own. The rules, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2020, are currently being finalized by the departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services. The rules follow on the heels of President Trump's October 2...

The Supreme Court this month resolved a split among the circuit courts regarding Title VII lawsuits and discrimination filings with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The U.S. Supreme Court building, completed in 1935. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employ...

Medical Informatics Engineering Inc. (MIE) has agreed to pay $900,000 to 16 states whose attorneys general had sued the company over a data breach in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). OCR Director Roger Severino Simultaneously, MIE settled with the Department of Health and H...

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Ft. Worth, Texas, who last year ruled the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) unconstitutional, this past week ruled that individuals with religious objections must be allowed to buy insurance without the ACA-mandated contraceptive mandate. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chamber...