Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Rule Limiting Groups Paying Premiums For Dialysis Patients
A U.S. judge on Thursday put on hold a new federal rule that dialysis providers have said would prevent dialysis patients from using charitable assistance to buy private health insurance. U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in Sherman, Texas stopped the rule from taking effect Friday as planned. The decision is a victory for dialysis providers Fresenius Medical Care, DaVita Inc and U.S. Renal Care Inc, which filed a lawsuit to block the rule last week. (Pierson, 1/12)
The order puts the fate of the rule into question, because the incoming Trump administration鈥檚 stance on it isn鈥檛 clear. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said officials there were 鈥渄isappointed the court temporarily stayed implementation of this important rule while scheduling further proceedings to consider the parties鈥 positions.鈥 A spokesman for DaVita said the ruling was 鈥済ood news for the thousands of patients who would be harmed by the implementation of the rule.鈥 (Wilde Mathews, 1/12)