Healthcare Roundup: Coming Abortion Medication Fight, Abortion Privacy & More

Fight Looming over Abortion Pills

A flurry of state legislation aimed at restricting or banning medication abortion was introduced this year. Nineteen states already ban the prescription of abortion pills via telemedicine, and the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade could encourage more states to do the same. 

The Biden administration indicated it would resist such bans, pledging to preserve access to abortion and medication abortion in particular.

“We stand ready to work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement immediately after the Supreme Court issued its ruling.

“In particular, the [Food and Drug Administration] FDA has approved the use of the medication Mifepristone. States may not ban Mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy,” he said.

There’s some question, however, about whether FDA approval of Mifepristone could prevent states from banning its use.

“It’s unclear whether a very conservative Supreme Court would allow FDA to preempt state bans, particularly since it’s already ruled that abortion isn’t protected under the Constitution,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University. “And so I think it could go either way.” (HILL)

Feds Address Reproductive Healthcare Privacy

In response to the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, the Department of Health and Human Services issued new guidance instructing healthcare providers they aren’t required to disclose patient information about abortion or reproductive health to law enforcement and may actually be legally prohibited from disclosing that information. President Biden is also expected to ask the Federal Trade Commission to take action to protect the privacy of women’s personal data relating to reproductive healthcare. (BLOOMBERG)

Feds to Insurers: Comply with ACA Contraceptive Requirements

Xavier Becerra, Marty Walsh, and Janet Yellen, the secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, and Department of the Treasury, respectively, issued a joint letter last week calling on group health plan insurers to provide coverage for preventive women’s health services, including free birth control, as required under the Affordable Care Act. The officials said although the contraceptive coverage requirement has been in place for more than a decade, their “Departments continue to receive complaints of non-compliance,” and they “may take enforcement or other corrective actions as appropriate.” (FIERCE HEALTHCARE, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES)

Healthcare Cost Transparency Expands to Insurers, Employers

Starting July 1, health insurers and businesses that directly pay for their employees’ healthcare will be required by the federal government to post data on what they pay doctors, hospitals, and other providers for care. The requirement comes 18 months after hospitals were required to post such data. Over half of hospitals have failed to do. (STAT, USA TODAY, KAISER HEALTH NEWS)

SCOTUS Raises Standard of Proof in ‘Pill Mill’ Cases

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously last week that the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that doctors charged with running so-called “pill mills” knew they were doing something wrong. The decision came in connection with two separate cases involving doctors who were licensed to prescribe controlled substances but charged with issuing numerous prescriptions that served no legitimate purpose. The high court’s ruling sent the cases back to a lower court for further consideration. (FIERCE HEALTHCARE)

- Compiled by KOREY CLARK