On July 1, the D.C. Circuit decided two appeals challenging aspects of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, accepting one challenge and rejecting the other. In Central United Life v. Burwell, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court injunction against a 2014 HHS regulatory prohibition on the sale of fixed indemnity insurance unless the purchaser attests that he or she already has minimum essential coverage. And in West Virginia v. HHS, a different panel of the D.C. Circuit rejected a challenge brought by the state of West Virginia to the “administrative fix” announced by HHS late in 2013. Under this arrangement, HHS deferred for 2014 enforcement of eight of the ACA’s insurance market reform requirements against existing insurance plans in the individual and small group market.
HENRY KOTULA 