Affordable Care Act

Shrinking the list of services insurers are required to offer would reduce costs and increase flexibility.

Columnist Scott Mozarsky predicts which practice areas might pick up the most over the next four years.

Physicians were wary of the solvency of health insurance co-ops created under the ACA. When ACA exchange health insurers faltered, reimbursements weren’t paid to physicians.

* Ed Meese in defense of Trump SCOTUS shortlister William Pryor. [The Daily Signal] * What the Chief Justice's writings tell us about the constitutionality of the global gag rule. [Slate] * What does the cert success rate look like this Term? [Empirical SCOTUS] * The potential legal actions over Trump's copycat cake. [Dorf on Law] * Could you do semi-retirement? [Law and More] * Are the GOP getting spooked over Obamacare repeal? [Washington Post]

An interview with conservative health care expert Lanhee Chen, co-author of the influential American Enterprise Institute proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act.

* President Obama commuted the sentences of an additional 330 federal prisoners held on drug convictions today. [Huffington Post]

* The Democrats who are not going to attend the inauguration. [Politico]

* More dustup over undisclosed celebrity endorsements. [The Fashion Law]

* Need a new job? Do you know how to crack the phone interview? [Law and More]

* Noam Chomsky has some thoughts on the ACA repeal. [Salon]

* This has become particularly poignant. [Slate]

Goodbye Obamacare, hello maple-leaf onesies?

The Affordable Care Act, which President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal, threw a number of life-savers to rural hospitals.

question marks As top Republicans see it, a medical malpractice crisis is threatening U.S. healthcare.

Amendment or GTFO, Steve King.

* It has begun. [Yes California]

* A Trump presidency may spell good news for the legal industry. Doom for humanity, but hey, what are you going to do? [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* The fate of our rule of law hangs in the balance. [Slate]

* What lawyers need to know about Trump’s reign. [Law and More]

* Hey, maybe Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will live for forever. [Huffington Post]

* Say goodbye to the Affordable Care Act. [Washington Post]

* Donald Trump’s views on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. [FCPA Professor]

* Rhonda Crawford, the Illinois law clerk who allegedly posed as a judge and was running unopposed for her own judgeship, was indicted for her judicial impersonation. Crawford does not intend to drop out of the race for a seat on the bench, despite the state bar ethics commission seeking to suspend her license to practice. [Chicago Tribune]

* London firms CMS and Olswang are merging with international firm Nabarro for a three-way combination that’s set to close in May 2017 and operate under the name CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, but rumor has it an American firm wants to get in on the action. Will Hunton & Williams join in for four-way fun? [The Lawyer]

* “[M]aybe Republicans can stop with the 60-something repeal votes they’ve taken … and just work with the next president to smooth out the kinks.” President Obama hopes that maybe when his second term in the White House is over, his signature healthcare law can be fixed. He doesn’t even care if they change its name to “Reagancare.” [Reuters]

* “The panic is starting to set in. Those who have a lot of interests at stake need to do work now.” Lawyers across the pond are poised for a profitable 2017 thanks to people scrambling for legal advice following Brexit, but those billables won’t last forever; after all, lawyers aren’t “immune to a broader economic slowdown.” [Big Law Business]

* More law schools are partially or completely covering bar exam preparation costs for their students, but with pass rates plummeting across the nation, you must be curious if this trend has had any positive effect. It worked for Loyola New Orleans and Southern University, whose pass rates for first-timers increased quite a bit. [ABA Journal]

* You may have heard about North Carolina’s new anti-LGBTQ law (and the inauspicious circumstances surrounding its passage), but it seems unlikely to withstand constitutional muster. [Slate]

* In the latest case before the Supreme Court over the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive provision, the conservative justices — all male, natch — fail to grasp the basics of contraceptives, insurance. [Talking Points Memo]

* Previewing the issues in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes surrounding finality under the Clean Water Act. [SCOTUSblog]

* Republicans are in favor of open-carry laws, but what about at their own convention? [Gawker]

* Vice President Joe Biden has some biting words over Congress’s obstructionist plan over Merrick Garland’s nomination. [Huffington Post]

* Is there really strong opposition to free trade? Has the U.S. plunged into a policy without caring about the repercussions of said policy? [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted on sexual abuse charges, and now the complaining witnesses are talking about their experiences with the justice system. [Jezebel]

* “If you give a judge a meeting, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk, because he is probably very thirsty from that one time you compared him to Idi Amin.” In light of the stranglehold Republicans have on Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s fate when it comes to his confirmation hearings, Dahlia Lithwick composed this cute riff on the children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. [Slate]

* In an attempt to get with the times, Vermont Law is offering a Reduced-Residency Juris Doctor program, where students will be able to take up to 15 credits online in an off-campus location. Unfortunately, this flexibility comes at a price — the same exact price as the school’s regular J.D. program. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* Considering the high tensions during oral arguments yesterday in Zubik v. Burwell, a legal battle having to do with the ACA’s contraceptives mandate, the Supreme Court seems poised to issue another 4-4 split decision in one of the most controversial cases this term. If that happens, the lower court ruling would be left intact. [New York Times]

* The ABA Journal wants to know how much you paid in law school tuition. If you graduated before the cost of a three-year legal education was akin to a mortgage, please take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are. If you’re a recent graduate, you’ve got plenty of people to commiserate with about your hefty debt burdens. [ABA Journal]

* “Did the Supreme Court make weed legal across America?” No, no it did not, and you must be stoned if you think that’s what the high court did in its decision, or lack thereof, in the Nebraska v. Colorado case that it begged off on earlier this week. For now, the federal legalization of marijuana is nothing more than just a pipe dream. [Inquisitr]

Justice Alito is more coherent than Kennedy, more conventional than Thomas, more consistently conservative than Roberts, and a lot further from retirement or death than Scalia.

* Jared Fogle, Subway’s former spokesman, pleaded guilty to federal charges related to sex with minors and child pornography, and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison. His creative defense? Losing weight on the Subway diet made him choose to erm… “eat fresh.” Yuck. [Washington Post]

* Biglaw firms have been announcing their new partnership classes over the past few weeks, and it goes without saying that the vast majority of new partners attended highly ranked law schools. Take a wild guess at which school was the most represented. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Per the latest report from the NALP, women and African-Americans continue to falter in their career progress at Biglaw firms. James Leipold says it’s “troubling” that the numbers are “reversing course.” We couldn’t agree more. [DealBook / New York Times]

* UnitedHealth recently announced that it expects to suffer in terms of its insurance sales under the Affordable Care Act, and has gone so far as to threaten that it may pull out of the exchange. Here are five things you need to know about that. [WSJ Law Blog]

* One of the members of Survivor filed a copyright infringement suit against Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign after the song “Eye of the Tiger” was played during a rally held for Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. Now it’s stuck in your head. Welcome! [Reuters]

* The Supreme Court announced today it will take up yet another challenge to the Affordable Care Act, this time on the contraceptive compromise. [Wall Street Journal]

* You know all those Special Lawyer lists? Yeah, they’re silly and meaningless. [Attorney at Work]

* Rut-roh. Did Congress screw up and make the latest appropriations bill end a day sooner than they intended? I mean would Congress ever screw up?!?! [Notice & Comment]

* Oh no they didn’t! Law & Order: SVU takes on the Duggars and it is glorious. [Slate]

* When Mexican Donald Trump gets going he cannot be stopped. [Funny or Die]