McGuireWoods on the Supreme Court's Federal Health Care Reform Law Decision

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:49:00 -0400

On March 12, 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the long-anticipated

By Edward I. Leeds and Clifford J. Schoner

On February 17, 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a set of

The Third Burning of Washington: Uncivil Health Care Wars Continue

allurie@verizon.net (Alvin D. Lurie) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:39:00 -0400

By Alvin D. Lurie

Historical Headnote: Washington has been burned twice before - once 197 years ago literally, by the enemy from without, when the British burned the White House and the U.S. Capitol during the War of 1812; and once metaphorically, by the enemy from within, when the Confederacy broke away from those central institutions of the United States (indeed untied itself from the Union) in the civil war between the states. The following lines tell of the third time, right now, when those two bulwarks of our system have been subject to severe risk of conflagration figuratively in the overheated environment of the health care debate, and the third of our three constitutionally founded

Health Insurance at the Intersection of State and Federal Regulation: Confused Regulation of ERISA Fully Insured MEWAs

rdconlin@lockelord.com (R. Dean Conlin) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:15:00 -0400

By R. Dean Conlin, Partner, Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell, L.P.

Small employers have struggled to have the same funding and plan design flexibility and uniform plan coverage for group health insurance as larger employers. A fully insured, multiple employer welfare arrangement ("MEWA") might suffice, but it relies on federal preemption of state insurance regulation. The Department

LexisNexis® Legal News Podcast - Victory For Health Care Reform Is Appealed by Jerry Falwell's Liberty University To Supreme Court

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 06:28:00 -0400

Liberty University petitions the Supreme Court over dismissal of a health care reform case, and defendants in a Propofol infection case in Nevada are ordered to pay $162.5 million in punitive damages. Hear these and other stories from LexisNexis® Mealey's Publications. Copyright © 2011 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. For the latest litigation news headlines, visit www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys or This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Patel Memo, the memo that launched the Medicare Secondary Payer industry. We are forced to look back over the past decade and recognize just how far we have come.

As the late, great Jerry Garcia would say, "What a long strange trip it's been".

A Pennsylvania federal judge finds the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates the Constitution, Goudy-Bachman v. United States HHS, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102897 (M.D. Pa. Sept. 13, 2011)

Sutherland Legal Alert - New Rules for Summaries of Health Benefits and Coverage

megan.miotti@sutherland.com (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:17:00 -0400

The 4th Circuit finds Virginia lacked standing to challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Virginia ex rel. Cuccinelli v. Sebelius, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 18632 (4th Cir. Va. Sept. 8, 2011), and, in a separate case, finds the Anti-Injunction Act strips a court of jurisdiction to hear another challenge to the Health Care Act, Liberty Univ., Inc. v. Geithner, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 18618 (4th Cir. Va. Sept. 8, 2011). Hear these and other stories

Obamacare Loses a Round in Pennsylvania - Individual Mandate Violates Commerce Clause

cheryl.Keely@lexisnexis.com (Cheryl Keely) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:11:00 -0400

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania federal judge on Sept. 13 held that the individual mandate contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is an unconstitutional extension of authority granted to the federal government under the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause (Barbara Goudy-Bachman, et al. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., No. 10-763, M.D. Pa.).

here for the HHS proposed regulations and here for the Treasury proposed regulations, which were published in the Federal Register

Guidance Provided on Summary of Benefits and Coverage

BallardSpahr@placeholder.com (Ballard Spahr LLP) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:44:00 -0400

By Marla G. Roshkoff and Brian M. Pinheiro

The 11th Circuit finds the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to be unconstitutional in Fla. v. United States HHS, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 16806 (11th Cir. Fla. Aug. 12, 2011), and, the 9th circuit affirms that plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the act in

Legal News Podcast - Divided 7th Circuit: Elimination Of Retiree Health Benefit Doesn't Violate ERISA

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:39:00 -0400

A Virginia federal judge finds Viagra patents are valid and infringed, and the 7th Circuit holds in John Sullivan, et al. v. CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, et al., No. 10-1558, 7th Cir.; 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 16413, that elimination of a retiree health benefit does not violate ERISA. Hear these and other stories from LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Publications. Copyright© 2011 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. For the latest litigation news headlines, visit

Health Care Reform Scores a Victory: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Individual Mandate Upheld by Sixth Circuit

cheryl.Keely@lexisnexis.com (Cheryl Keely) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:02:00 -0400

CINCINNATI -- (Mealey's) The individual mandate contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a valid exercise of Congress' power under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held June 29, (Thomas More Law Center, et al. v. Barack Hussein Obama, et al., No. 10-2388, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 13265, 6th Cir.), in affirming the RICHMOND, Va. - (Mealey's) The federal government argued before a panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 10 that a district court judge erred in finding that the individual mandate contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is unconstitutional, while the Commonwealth of Virginia urged the court to find that the individual mandate cannot be severed from the rest of the act, so the entire thing must be declared unconstitutional (Commonwealth of Virginia v. Kathleen Sebelius, Nos. 11-1057 & 11-1058, 4th Cir.).

Please click here to read the entire post, A New Hampshire federal judge dismisses a challenge to the Health Care Act by a Medicare recipient, and, a $111 million interest award is issued in a Texas federal patent case. Hear these and other stories from LexisNexis® Mealey's Publications. Copyright© 2011 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. For the latest litigation news headlines, visit www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys or By Jennifer C. Jordan, Esq., General Counsel, MEDVAL LLC

Now that those involved in personal injury settlements, whether workers’ compensation or liability

David Harlow Speaks Out on Massachusetts Health Care Reform

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:35:00 -0400

By David Harlow

I am a guest on the latest edition of Lawyer2Lawyer