What We're Reading: Supreme Court to Hear ACA Suit; Missouri Abortion Clinic; City of Hope Investment

The Supreme Court Has Agreed to Hear Insurers’ ACA Lawsuit

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court agreed to decide whether Congress acted correctly when it failed to fully fund “risk corridors,” financial protections that were offered to health insurers that took part in marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to The New York Times. In their brief, insurers said they were victims of a massive “bait and switch,” and the government paid them $12 billion less than what they were promised. Some companies that were paid less than promised have since gone bankrupt. The Supreme Court will hear consoldiated suits after a divided 3-judge appellate panel ruled against the insurance companies last year.

Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic to Temporarily Stay Open as State Judge Extends Preliminary Injunction

Missouri Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer ruled yesterday that the state’s only abortion clinic can continue performing abortions through Friday, The New York Times reported. Stelzer extended a preliminary injunction he previously issued to give the clinic time to take a licensing fight before an administrative panel. The clinic will be forced to shut down if its license isn’t renewed and would make Missouri the first state since 1974 to lack a facility where abortions can be performed.

City of Hope Will Invest $1 Billion in New Cancer Hospital and Research Center

City of Hope will invest $1 billion in a new hospital and research center focused on cancer care in Irvine, California, the Los Angeles Times reported. Without convenient access to care, about 20% of Orange County patients have previously been forced to travel long distances to seek care elsewhere. City of Hope expects to convert an unused building on recently purchased property into a research center by 2021, and to complete construction on the hospital by 2025.