Courts Health LGBTQ

Supreme Court Rules to Uphold Affordable Care Act, Decides Catholic Adoption Agency has Right to Prevent LGBTQ+ Couples from Fostering Children

In a 7-2 decision Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled to leave Affordable Care Act intact, dismissing a challenge made against the ACA by several states led by Texas.   The challenge claimed that the ACA’s individual mandate was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs had hoped that a ruling of the individual mandate as unconstitutional would declare every other provision of the ACA, and the entire law itself, unconstitutional as well. This is the third challenge to have been made against the ACA since the […]

Abortion Health On the Hill Reproductive Rights

Biden Executive Order Ends Global Gag Rule and Strengthens Health Care Access

Today, President Biden will sign a series of executive orders that will end the global gag rule which prevents nongovernmental organizations from receiving U.S. aid if they provide or recommend abortion care. They will also order a review and assessment of the Title X domestic gag rule, as well as strengthening access to the Affordable […]

Courts Health On the Hill

Supreme Court Hearings on Affordable Care Act Endanger Women’s Health

The Supreme Court has been hearing oral arguments regarding the legality of the Affordable Care Act this week, which puts about 32 million people’s (a majority of whom are women) healthcare coverage at risk. The Affordable Care Act, in addition to providing millions of people with insurance coverage through Medicare and Medicaid, bans sex discrimination […]

Health On the Hill

Trump Signs Order Aimed at Strengthening Telehealth and Rural Healthcare

On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at empowering rural healthcare providers and expanding access to telehealth services. Medicare has greatly expanded its coverage of telehealth services as part of its coronavirus emergency response, but that expansion is set to expire once the public health emergency is over. The executive order calls […]

Courts Health Reproductive Choice

Supreme Court Upholds Religious and Moral Exemptions for ACA Birth Control Coverage

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a Trump Administration rule which expands the types of organizations that can claim religious or moral exemptions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rule allows these organizations to refuse to cover birth control under their health insurance plans. Justice Thomas wrote the majority opinion, and was […]

Courts Health LGBTQ

SCOTUS Ruling Could Upend Trump Administration’s Attacks on the Trans Community

Monday’s Supreme Court ruling to protect LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination in the workplace could derail the Trump administration’s latest restrictions on transgender rights in healthcare. In the Trump administration’s most recent attack on the LGBTQ+ community, the anti-discrimination policies that protect transgender people in healthcare settings have been reversed. Under the Affordable Care Act, healthcare […]

Health LGBTQ

Trump Administration Removes Healthcare Protections for Transgender People

On Friday, June 12, the Trump administration rolled back rules that protected transgender people from being discriminated against in healthcare. The regulation was initially implemented by the Obama Administration as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA prevents healthcare institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex. Under the […]

Health On the Hill Reproductive Rights

Supreme Court Cases May Leave Many Without Insurance Coverage for Birth Control

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear two cases, Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania and Trump v. Pennsylvania, that could significantly limit birth control access in the United States. The Court’s conservative majority may use these cases to allow most employers to claim religious or moral exemptions to providing contraception coverage in their […]

Health

Women Are Surprised By The “Hidden” Cost Of Mammograms

Women are surprised when they receive a bill for their second mammogram in the mail, even though their first mammogram was covered by insurance. Around 30 million women every year receive preventative mammograms. Mammograms are necessary for the early prevention of breast cancer. Every 2 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the […]

Health

New Report Says U.S. Abortion Rate is Lowest Since Roe v. Wade

According to a report by the Guttmacher Institute released Wednesday that outlines changes in abortion statistics between 2011 and 2017, the United States abortion rate has hit an all-time low since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973. The 48-page research document, used by policymakers and activists on both sides of the abortion debate, provides […]

Health

Kamala Harris’ Proposal Provides a Middle-Ground on Healthcare

This morning, two days before she takes the stage for the second Democratic presidential debate, Senator Kamala Harris released her new Medicare For All plan, calling for a government-run health insurance system that includes provisions for private insurance plans. Though Harris originally signed onto Senator Sanders’ Medicare For All legislation, which details an expedited path […]

Courts Reproductive Rights

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Birth Control Exemptions

Last Friday, the 3rd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a nation-wide injunction to block the Trump administration from enforcing new rules that would allow employers to obtain exemptions from an ACA requirement that insurance must cover women’s birth control. This decision upheld a district court decision issued in January that blocked regulations issued by […]

Health

More than 1 Million Americans Lost Health Coverage in 2018

In 2018, more than 1 million Americans lost health coverage, continuing a pattern of decline since 2017 when Trump Administration and Congress decreased the Affordable Care Act requirements and regulations. In 2017, 29.3 million Americans did not have coverage and in 2018 this number increased to 30.4 million Americans, while previously the number of uninsured […]

Health

Trump Administration Argues the ACA is Unconstitutional

The Trump Administration is arguing that a federal appeals court should strike down the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) as unconstitutional, including the popular provisions to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions, the expansion of Medicaid, and the ability for young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years old. In […]

Uncategorized

Federal Judge in Texas Rules ACA Unconstitutional

Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. While the law will not be overturned yet and is still in effect, the decision will be appealed and may go before the Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled the ACA unconstitutional after 18 Republican state attorneys general and two […]