On Nov. 10, when the fate of the Affordable Care Act faced the Supreme Court for the third time since it was signed into law 10 years ago, the justices seemed willing to leave the bulk of the law intact even if they found one part of it to be unconstitutional.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco heard oral arguments Oct. 19 in a lawsuit that aims to overturn a 2017 federal regulation expanding the exemption to the federal contraceptive mandate to include the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious employers.
The Affordable Care Act -- on the examination table since President Donald Trump came into office -- has been poked, prodded and even pronounced dead while the fight to keep it alive keeps going.
The U.S. bishops' effort urging senators to protect the poor and amend the Graham-Cassidy bill, meant to replace the Affordable Care Act, became a moot point as opposition to the bill stiffened amid frantic rewriting to get critical senators' votes and ultimately led to a decision to have no vote on it.
The latest version of a Republican measure in the Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act must be amended to protect poor and vulnerable Americans, said the chairmen of four U.S. bishops' committees.
The Senate Republicans' latest effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act is "unacceptable" and shows little improvement over the lawmakers' first attempt to reform the federal health care law, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee.
