On Monday, February 26, 2018, twenty states, led by the attorneys general of Texas and Wisconsin, sued officials of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), alleging that the law revoking the penalty aspect of the ACA’s individual mandate rendered the entire ACA unconstitutional.  The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. 

On February 20, 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recommending changes in federal policies and procedures governing state-operated Medicaid demonstration waiver projects.  These projects represent the leading edge in state Medicaid innovation as well as over $109 billion in federal Medicaid spending annually. GAO found in its review of these projects that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not always demanded thorough, scientifically valid, and timely data evaluations as to whether the projects achieved state-specified, CMS-approved goals to improve care and to contain costs.  

On February 23, 2018, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky requesting that the court uphold the state’s newly imposed Medicaid work requirement.  The lawsuit was filed in response to the lawsuit previously filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the new eligibility requirement. The Commonwealth of Kentucky had not been included as a party to the prior action. 

On February 5, 2018, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) released a new Notice of Funding Opportunity to support states as they implement several of the market reforms and consumer protections under Title I of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This grant program is a follow-up to the Health Insurance Enforcement and Consumer Protections Grants funded in 2016. Specifically, the new grant program – known as the State Flexibility to Stabilize the Market Grant Program (“State Flexibility Grant Program”) – is intended to provide states with the opportunity to ensure their laws, regulations, and procedures align with federal requirements.