At long last, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion today in the third case reaching the Court on the issue of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). In an opinion written by Justice Breyer and joined by the Chief Justice and four other Justices, the Court ruled in short as follows:

As originally enacted in 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required most Americans to obtain minimum essential health insurance coverage. The Act also imposed a monetary penalty, scaled according to in- come, upon individuals who failed to do so. In 2017, Con- gress effectively nullified the penalty by setting its amount at $0. See Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Pub. L. 115–97, §11081, 131 Stat. 2092 (codified in 26 U. S. C. §5000A(c)).

Texas and 17 other States brought this lawsuit against the United States and federal officials. They were later joined by two individuals (Neill Hurley and John Nantz). The plaintiffs claim that without the penalty the Act’s minimum essential coverage requirement is unconstitutional. Specifically, they say neither the Commerce Clause nor the  Tax Clause (nor any other enumerated power) grants Congress the power to enact it. See U. S. Const., Art. I, §8. They also argue that the minimum essential coverage re- quirement is not severable from the rest of the Act. Hence, they believe the Act as a whole is invalid. * * *

[W]e conclude that the plaintiffs in this suit failed to show a concrete, particularized injury fairly traceable to the defendants’ conduct in enforcing the specific statutory provision they attack as unconstitutional. They have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act’s minimum essential coverage provision. Therefore, we reverse the Fifth Circuit’s judgment in respect to standing, vacate the judgment, and remand the case with instructions to dismiss.

Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion, and Justice Alito, joined by Justice Gorsuch, filed a dissenting opinion. The FEHBlog confidently can state that he predicted this favorable outcome for the ACA. It always has been clear to the FEHBlog that the Supreme Court took the case to kill the lawsuit, not the law.

The Senate will take up Kiran Ahuja’s nomination to be OPM Director when it resumes floor business on Monday June 21. If Ms. Ahuja’s nomination is not confirmed next week, the Senate will be away from our Nation’s capital for two weeks for the Independence Day holiday.

Reg Jones’ latest column in FedWeek concerns federal employee survivor benefits in the case of a post-retirement marriage.

In federal employment news, Federal News Network reports that President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act this afternoon, establishing June 19 as a federal holiday. Most federal employees will have tomorrow, June 18 off for observance as June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, the Office of Personnel Management said. * * * Nearly every state already recognizes Juneteenth as a holiday, but it now becomes the first federal holiday created since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.”

In COVID-19 news and this should come as no surprise, Medscape informs us that “More than half of unvaccinated Americans would prefer to get a COVID-19 vaccination at their doctors’ office, according to the results of a new national survey. * * * The preference to be vaccinated in a medical office was three to five times higher among unvaccinated Americans than were other strategies such as vaccinations at retail pharmacies or drug stores, community health centers, public health clinics, drive-up clinics, and large public vaccination sites.” As of today, 65% of Americans over age 18, and 87% of Americans over age 65, have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination.

In a burst of closing miscellany —

• Kaiser Health News tells us that ” The pandemic-caused recession and a federal requirement that states keep Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled until the national emergency ends swelled the pool of people in the program by more than 9 million over the past year, according to a report released Thursday. The latest figures show Medicaid enrollment grew from 71.3 million in February 2020, when the pandemic was beginning in the U.S., to 80.5 million in January, according to a KFF analysis of federal data.”
• Health Payer Intelligence informs us that “Medicare Advantage plans may better address racial care disparities than fee-for-service Medicare, according to the second in a series of reports that ATI Advisory has prepared for Better Medicare Alliance (BMA) in 2021. “With over 26.5 million beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage today, this report shows that minority beneficiaries are a driving force behind these enrollment gains; turning to Medicare Advantage to meet their health and social needs. When policymakers stand up for Medicare Advantage, they stand up for these seniors, too,” Allyson Y. Schwartz, president and chief executive officer of the Better Medicare Alliance, said in the press release. Around half of all Black Medicare beneficiaries and 53 percent of Latinx Medicare beneficiaries are in a Medicare Advantage plan, the report found. In contrast, only 34 percent of White beneficiaries and 31 percent of those who identified as “Other” races were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.”
• STAT News reports that “ovarian cancer, which kills about 15,000 Americans every year, has historically been one of the thornier cancers to treat. Only in the last few years has a new class of potent drugs, called PARP inhibitors, started to change that. But even with these promising new treatments, too often, tenacious tumors come roaring back. So there’s a need for yet newer drugs that can overcome any resistance the cancer evolves. According to research published Thursday, scientists might have found one. And it’s not actually a new drug at all. In fact, it’s been sitting, retired, in a drug library for decades. “While evaluating mechanisms of PARP inhibitor resistance over the last few years we came across this drug, novobiocin, which curiously enough, is an antibiotic,” said Alan D’Andrea, director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and co-author of the new study.” Encouraging.
• “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a nasal antihistamine for nonprescription use through a process called a partial prescription to nonprescription switch. The FDA approved Astepro (azelastine hydrochloride nasal spray, 0.15%) for seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis—commonly known as allergies—for adults and children six years of age and older.  ‘Seasonal and perennial allergies affect millions of Americans every year, causing them to experience symptoms of nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing and more,” said Theresa M. Michele, M.D., director of the office of nonprescription drugs in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Today’s approval provides individuals an option for a safe and effective nasal antihistamine without requiring the assistance of a healthcare provider.’”