Policy & Compliance
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December 09, 2025
US Asks 5th Circ. To Revive ACA Employer Tax Penalties
The IRS properly penalized a janitorial services company for failing to provide employees with healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. government said, urging the Fifth Circuit to reverse a Texas federal court ruling that voided regulations promulgating the penalties.
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December 09, 2025
Insurer Says Whistleblower Stole Docs In Medicare FCA Case
An insurer accused of running a kickback scheme to steer customers to its Medicare Advantage plan is seeking to question the whistleblower that sparked the False Claims Act suit, telling a Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday that he snapped unauthorized photos of company files.
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December 09, 2025
Gender Care Ban Sets Catholic Hospitals On Uncharted Path
An overwhelming majority of U.S. bishops recently backed new directives for Catholic health systems to prohibit gender transition treatments. Some experts say the move could make it more difficult for Catholic hospitals to navigate state laws protecting gender-affirming care.
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December 08, 2025
Confluence Health Refunds $1.8M Following Wash. AG's Probe
Central Washington healthcare operator Confluence Health has refunded more than $1.8 million to low-income patients who paid for hospital care despite being eligible for financial assistance under the state's Charity Care Act, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown announced Monday.
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December 08, 2025
1st Circ. Keeps Planned Parenthood Funding Ban In Place
The First Circuit on Monday issued an administrative stay that temporarily keeps in place a ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, pausing a lower court's ruling.
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December 08, 2025
Smith & Nephew Settles 401(k) Fee Dispute
A Massachusetts federal judge stayed a proposed federal benefits class action Monday against Smith & Nephew that accused the medical device company of imposing excessive fees on an employee 401(k) plan, after the parties told the court they had agreed to settle their dispute.
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December 08, 2025
11th Circ. Won't Pause Medicaid Rule Amid Fla. Hospital Audit
An Eleventh Circuit panel revived Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, but upheld a lower court's decision to deny the state's request for an injunction after finding it wouldn't likely succeed on the merits of its complaint.
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December 08, 2025
Hi-Tech Pharma, CEO Want New Trial In Feds' Fraud Case
A health supplement company's CEO, who was largely acquitted of federal fraud and conspiracy charges last month, asked a Georgia federal judge Friday to toss the lone conviction he faced, arguing that allowing the charge to stand "would constitute a miscarriage of justice."
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December 08, 2025
Justices Say Louisiana Law Can't Bar HIV Discrimination Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court told a Louisiana appeals court Monday that it incorrectly found that a state law protecting healthcare providers from civil liability during public health emergencies bars an HIV patient from alleging federal discrimination claims after being denied aquatherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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December 08, 2025
Justices Pass On Challenge To NJ Hospital Charity Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a New Jersey Supreme Court decision that a state requirement to treat patients regardless of the patient's ability to pay does not amount to an unconstitutional per se or regulatory taking.
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December 08, 2025
High Court Wants Feds' Input On Health Workers' Vax Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court asked Monday for the federal government's input on a group of religious workers' challenge to a pandemic-era New York state policy requiring healthcare providers to make their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
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December 05, 2025
Juror Who Alleged Misconduct Dismissed From Opioid Trial
A juror in Florida hospitals' $1.5 billion trial against the three major pharmacy chains over opioid dispensing was dismissed Friday after a judge found that her allegations of serious misconduct against another juror were largely unwarranted.
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December 05, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Unfreeze Trump Cuts To Student Mental Health
The Ninth Circuit rejected the Trump administration's effort to undo a lower court's pause on federal funding reductions to K-12 mental health services, siding with a coalition of 16 states seeking to preserve programs established in the wake of high-profile school shootings.
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December 05, 2025
3rd Circ. Backs NJ In-State Rule For Medical Aid In Dying
A Delaware woman with terminal cancer cannot end her life with medical assistance in New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential opinion, finding that the Garden State residency requirement for medical aid in dying is restricted solely to New Jerseyans.
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December 05, 2025
ERISA Recap: 4 Rulings Worth Paying Attention To From Nov.
The Ninth Circuit striking down a class action win for transgender employee health plan participants who said their gender-affirming care denials were discriminatory is just one noteworthy Employee Retirement Income Security Act ruling from November. Here's a recap of that ruling and three others.
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December 05, 2025
Justices Take On State Court Review Doctrine Case
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider whether an appellate court correctly invoked the doctrine blocking federal courts from reviewing state court judgments in a case concerning an involuntary hospital commitment.
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December 05, 2025
Georgia Turns To 11th Circ. In Trans Prisoner Care Fight
The Eleventh Circuit will get a chance to weigh in on a district judge's recent decision requiring the Georgia Department of Corrections to provide hormone therapy to transgender inmates, according to a Friday filing in federal court.
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December 05, 2025
CDC Panel Ends Recommendation Of Hepatitis B Shot At Birth
A panel of federal vaccine advisers on Friday voted to lift a long-standing recommendation that all newborns be given vaccinations for hepatitis B.
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December 04, 2025
11th Circ. Blocks Fla. City's Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Law
The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday ordered a preliminary injunction blocking a Clearwater, Florida, ordinance requiring a 5-foot buffer zone outside an abortion clinic, finding the city likely violated protesters' rights by burdening their ability to leaflet drivers.
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December 04, 2025
CDC Vaccine Committee Punts Hepatitis B Vote Again
Federal vaccine advisers on Thursday put off a vote on changing guidelines for a long-used hepatitis B vaccine for infants, delaying again a decision expected to have wide-ranging ramifications for national childhood vaccine policy in the U.S.
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December 04, 2025
Credit Bureaus Can't Duck Suit Over Excluded Medical Debt
A California federal judge has found that Equifax, Experian and TransUnion must face key parts of a rejiggered proposed antitrust class action from medical practices and collection agencies targeting the credit reporting agencies' decision to exclude medical debt under $500 from consumer credit reports.
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December 04, 2025
Mass. Justices Unlikely To Revive Verizon Tower Suit
Justices on Massachusetts' highest court appeared unlikely to second-guess a local health board's decision to drop an enforcement action against Verizon over perceived health effects from a cell tower after the telecom filed suit.
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December 04, 2025
Pharma Cos. Denied Early Win In States' Price-Fixing Suit
Twenty-six pharmaceutical companies failed to secure a quick win on overarching conspiracy claims in an antitrust case by the attorneys general of Connecticut and most other states, with a federal judge finding the "substantial bulk of evidence" points toward a broad industry scheme to fix 98 dermatology drug prices.
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December 04, 2025
$1M AAA Club Settlement Gets Final Nod In COBRA Suit
A Michigan federal judge granted final approval Thursday to a $1 million settlement an American Automobile Association club brokered with a class of workers to resolve their suit claiming they weren't notified on time that they could extend their health insurance after their benefits ended.
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December 04, 2025
Vivimed To Pay $1.9M To End Losartan Economic Loss Claims
Vivimed has agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle economic loss claims from a class of consumers and insurers related to its losartan product in sprawling multidistrict litigation over contaminated blood pressure medication, according to a Wednesday filing.
Expert Analysis
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Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector
As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.
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What To Expect From 'Make America Healthy Again' Actions
The Make America Healthy Again Commission recently established by President Donald Trump and chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will potentially bring energy and attention to important public health topics, and stakeholders should be aware of pathways for sharing their input and proactively informing proceedings, says Nicholas Manetto at Faegre Drinker.
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How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition
In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.
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Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove
The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments
A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding
New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon
Understanding Oregon's enforcement authority and its impact on proposed transactions last year provides a road map to the state's plans to strengthen its processes this year, though enforcement could be challenged by ongoing litigation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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High Court Must Acknowledge US History Of Anti-Trans Laws
Despite Justice Amy Coney Barrett's claim to the contrary during oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, U.S. governments at every level have systematically discriminated against transgender people, and the U.S. Supreme Court must consider this historical context in upcoming cases about transgender issues, says Paisley Currah at the City University of New York.
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The Fate Of Biden-Era Clinical Study Guidance Under Trump
Draft guidance about the study of sex and gender differences in medical product development issued by the outgoing Biden administration currently faces significant uncertainty and litigation potential due to the Trump administration's executive orders and other actions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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10 Issues To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting
This year, in addition to evergreen developments driven by national security priorities, disruptive new technologies and competition with rival powers, federal contractors will see significant disruptions driven by the new administration’s efforts to reduce government spending, regulation and the size of the federal workforce, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.
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Dispelling 10 Myths About Health Provider-Based Compliance
Congress appears intent on requiring hospitals to submit provider-based attestations for all off-campus outpatient hospital locations, so now is the time for hospitals to prepare for this change by understanding common misconceptions about provider-based status and proactively correct noncompliance, say attorneys at McDermott.
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A Look At HHS' New Opinion On Patient Assistance Programs
A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General follows a recent trend of blessing patient assistance program arrangements that implicate the Anti-Kickback Statute, as long as they are structured with appropriate safeguards to minimize the risk of fraud and abuse, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.