On September 22, the Trump Administration announced it would soon publish in the Federal Register proposed new regulations defining when lawfully present immigrants should be considered a “public charge.” Although the draft regulations posted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were not as far-sweeping as a version that was leaked last winter, if promulgated they would still have a dramatic impact on public health and the health care system.
Read morePublic Comment: HHS Proposed Revisions to Title X Funding Regulations
Yesterday, along with the George Consortium and in collaboration with the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University School of Law, we submitted public comments to the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding proposed revisions to Title X Regulations. We offer a reprint of the comments we submitted.
Read moreMedicare is Not Going Broke [from philly.com]
Have you heard the news? Medicare will run out of money in just four years. Can the program survive?
Read moreThe latest strategy to undermine Obamacare: challenge the constitutionality of a mandate that doesn’t exist [from Philly.com]
Can a law be unconstitutional if it doesn’t exist? That may sound like an abstract riddle, like the proverbial tree falling in a forest, but it is central to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The suit, brought by 20 Republican attorneys general, seeks to have the entire law thrown out, and the Trump administration recently announced its support.
Read moreNew Dangers For Immigrants and the Health Care System [from Health Affairs Blog]
PHLW's Wendy E. Parmet and Elisabeth J. Ryan co-authored an article posted on the Health Affairs Blog about the potential changes to the definition of "public charge" and how that will negatively impact health care and the health care system.
Read morePublic Health Law Watch Comments on HHS Regulation Proposal: Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights
Public Health Law Watch, joined by our friends at the Public Health Law Center, submitted official comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed amendments to 45 CFR 88, "Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights; Delegations of Authority." Based on our combined expertise in public health law and policy, we offered comments on five main issues: (1) the lack of evidence that these rule revisions are necessary; (2) the absence of consideration for patients who face refusal of care; (3) the potentially dangerous expansion of existing definitions around “conscience protections;” (4) the potential harm these rules will cause for the LGBTQ population; and (5) the detriment these proposals would cause to reproductive health and rights.
Read moreImmigration and Health Care Under the Trump Administration [from Health Affairs Blog]
After a brief hiatus during the holidays, a Nor'easter, and the dawn of a new semester, PHLW is back with this post by our own Wendy E. Parmet on the Health Affairs Blog. The piece about the current state of immigration and health care comes out of her recent presentation at the Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center Sixth Annual Health Law Year in P/Review in December 2016.
Read moreWhy is Congress not prioritizing health care for children and other vulnerable populations?
Back in September of this year, Congress was faced with the decision of whether or not to renew funding for both the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Community Health Center Fund. Both sources of funding expired on October 1, 2017. As of the date of this post, 68 days have passed since Congress failed to renew funding for these crucial programs.
Read moreOf Mosquitoes and “Moral Convictions”: How Rolling Back the Affordable Care Act’s Contraceptive Mandate Jeopardizes Women’s and Children’s Health
December 5 is the deadline to submit comments on the Trump Administration's recent action to gut the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, which requires employer-sponsored health plans to ensure women's access to free, effective contraception. This decision, announced in October in two Interim Final Rules, threatens serious harm to American children, because of the risk that women who lack access to contraception will become pregnant, contract Zika, and unwittingly transmit the virus to their developing fetus.
Read moreGOP Tax Bill Would Inflict Real Pain on Nonprofit Hospitals [From Philly.com] →
Nonprofit hospitals have had much to fear from Congress recently. The Senate came within one vote of repealing much of the Affordable Care Act, which would have left millions of patients uninsured and unable to pay for hospital care. And Congress may soon consider major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, which could slash reimbursement for many hospital services.
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