The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a request from Democratic state officials and House lawmakers to immediately hear a case challenging the Affordable Care Act's constitutionality, though the Court did not rule out taking up the case at a later date, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia, Kentucky, and Texas.
- District of Columbia: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a request from Democratic state officials and House lawmakers to immediately hear a case challenging the Affordable Care Act's constitutionality, though the Court did not rule out taking up the case at a later date. Democrats had asked the Supreme Court to review and issue a final decision in the case before the Court's current term ends in June, which could have amplified public focus on the issue leading up to November's general election. However, the Trump administration and the Republican attorneys general who filed the case urged the Supreme Court to reject the Democrats' request, saying it would be "premature" for the Court to step in at this point, as the case still is awaiting action in a lower court. The Supreme Court's decision allows the case to continue working its way through the lower court for now, Politico reports (Politico, 1/21; Wolf, USA Today, 1/21).
- Kentucky: Kate Goodrich, CMO of CMS and director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, is leaving the agency next month to take a role at Humana. Goodrich's new role has not been announced, but some reports speculate she will be named SVP, Modern Healthcare reports. Goodrich previously served as director of the Quality Measurement and Value-based Incentives Group at CMS and was behind the implementation of MACRA (Castellucci, Modern Healthcare, 1/16).
- Texas: Baylor Scott & White Health on Wednesday opened a hospital in Austin called Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Austin. The hospital is the health system's first in Austin and its eighth hospital in Central Texas, according to Becker's Hospital Review. Jay Fox, president of Baylor Scott & White Health-Austin/Round Rock Region, said the move will help the system "bring comprehensive care services to the Austin community in one convenient location" (Ellison, Becker's Hospital Review, 1/16).