Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Court Rejects Challenge To Latest Contraceptives Exemption
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a path devised by the Obama administration that allows religious nonprofit groups to avoid paying for contraception under the president's health care law. In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a challenge by the groups, which claimed that the accommodation still imposes a substantial burden on their expression of religion. (Yost, 11/14)
Religious nonprofit groups were dealt a blow Friday when a federal appeals court upheld the Obama administration's plan to allow an exemption for providing contraception coverage, according to the Associated Press. The District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 against the groups - that charged the new path set by the administration would harm their ability to express religion. (Hooper, 11/15)
Other news outlets looked at a case likely to聽play a key role in the Supreme Court's deliberations on a聽challenge to the health law's subsidies in states that do not have their own exchanges, and how states could respond if the court rules in favor of the聽challenger --
How the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a major challenge to the healthcare reform law could come down to one word: Chevron. Experts agree that the justices will have to consider the high court's oft-cited precedent in the 1984 case Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council in deciding whether to rule in favor of the government or the challengers in King v. Burwell. ... The Supreme Court in its landmark decision in Chevron held that federal agencies must follow the letter of the law where the law is clear. But if courts using the Chevron analysis conclude that a law is ambiguous, then they must defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of the law. Many experts say that if the justices apply Chevron, it would mean a win for the government. (Schencker, 11/14)
When the Supreme Court announced it would take up the King v. Burwell case, health experts, lawmakers and pundits immediately began sounding the alarms warning that an unfavorable ruling for the Obama administration would have grave implications for the entire health care law. ... Legal experts say that there is at least one workaround option states could use in order for their residents to continue to be eligible to receive federal subsidies ... . (Ehley, 11/14)
