Policy & Compliance
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February 10, 2026
Abortion Rules, Vaccine Recommendations And More In Court
Abortion restrictions in Arizona are facing a new legal challenge, and an interstate clash over abortion pills is heating up. Here, Law360 Healthcare Authority takes a look at the week's top healthcare news.
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February 10, 2026
Wash. Panel Says Healthcare Cost-Share Group Is An Insurer
A Utah-based healthcare cost-sharing nonprofit operates as and must register as an insurer under Washington state law, a state appeals panel ruled, upholding a $50,000 fine from the state's insurance commissioner that found the nonprofit ran afoul of Washington insurance law.
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February 10, 2026
Pa. Emerges As Battleground Over State False Claims Laws
Momentum is growing to pass a False Claims Act law in Pennsylvania, the most populous U.S. jurisdiction without one already on the books. It's also reigniting debate over the value of anti-fraud statutes around the country.
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February 10, 2026
Hospitals Face 'Perfect Storm' Of Fed. Cuts, Revenue Strains
Facing federal budget cuts, soaring labor costs and a rising tide of uninsured patients, U.S. hospitals are approaching a financial cliff that could trigger a wave of closures nationwide.
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February 10, 2026
Fresenius Can't Knock Out 401(k) Forfeiture Suit
A Massachusetts federal judge narrowed but declined to dismiss a suit claiming dialysis company Fresenius violated federal benefits law by using forfeited 401(k) funds to pay for match contributions instead of plan fees, ruling the workers behind the suit adequately explained that the move may have flouted their interests.
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February 09, 2026
Anti-Abortion Groups Say Mich. Law Impedes 1st Amendment
Two Michigan-based anti-abortion organizations are suing several officials, alleging recent amendments to Michigan's civil rights law will force them to hire employees and volunteers who do not share or may openly oppose their religious beliefs and stance on abortion.
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February 09, 2026
Medical Equipment Co. Nets Tentative Deal In Overbilling Suit
Medical supply giant AdaptHealth Corp. has tentatively settled an overbilling suit brought by a proposed class of patients who claim they were overcharged for home healthcare equipment, according to a North Carolina court order pausing upcoming deadlines in the case.
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February 06, 2026
Ga. Panel Backs Sperm Bank Win In 'Wrongful Birth' Case
A Georgia appeals court backed a win for sperm bank Xytex Corp. in consolidated litigation alleging the company sold sperm under false pretenses about the medical, psychological and social history of the donors.
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February 06, 2026
'Very Bizarre': Trump's Funding Freeze Appeal Vexes DC Circ.
D.C. Circuit judges struggled Friday with whether to unblock a federal funding freeze carrying multitrillion-dollar implications, as a Trump administration lawyer disclaimed interest in a vast spending halt but also dodged opportunities to rule it out unequivocally.
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February 06, 2026
Arizona Abortion Restrictions Found Unconstitutional
An Arizona state court permanently struck down a slew of restrictions on abortion care in the state, including an ultrasound mandate and a ban on the mailing of abortion pills, finding that the restrictions violate the right to abortion enshrined in the state's constitution.
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February 06, 2026
Hospital Pays $595K To End Ex-Workers' Retirement Suit
A Cambridge hospital system agreed to pay $595,000 to settle a proposed class action claiming it mismanaged its $280 million retirement plan and cost workers millions in savings by failing to reduce management fees and trim costly funds from the plan, according to a Massachusetts federal court filing.
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February 06, 2026
HHS Ends 340B Drug Rebate Pilot After Legal Challenge
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has ended a proposed rebate program that would have altered how hospitals receive payments for participating in the federal 340B drug discount program, which provides discounted prescription drugs for low-income Americans, after facing a lawsuit from a major hospital association.
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February 05, 2026
TikTok Urges NC Justices To Toss State's Addictive App Suit
The North Carolina attorney general can't haul California-based TikTok Inc. and its now-minority Chinese owner ByteDance Inc. into state court to hash out addictive app and deceptive marketing claims solely because the online platform can be accessed in the Tar Heel State, the companies have told North Carolina's highest court.
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February 05, 2026
Trump Admin Asks 4th Circ. To Unfreeze ACA Rule Changes
The Trump administration is urging the Fourth Circuit to let it plow ahead with two changes to Affordable Care Act regulations that a Maryland federal judge froze in August, arguing the rule changes are within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' power to enact.
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February 05, 2026
Website Wiretapping Claims Trimmed From Cigna Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge has trimmed most of a proposed class action over Cigna's alleged third-party sharing of customers' private health information on its website and patient portals, finding that while the customers had standing, they had consented to a privacy policy that disclosed the data collection and sharing.
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February 04, 2026
'Careless Or Disingenuous': Judge Rips CareFirst Rethink Bid
A Virginia federal judge Wednesday refused to reconsider an order reversing course and throwing out key claims in CareFirst's suit against Johnson & Johnson over the immunosuppressive drug Stelara, calling CareFirst's arguments for doing so "either careless or disingenuous."
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February 04, 2026
Hartford HealthCare Must Provide Docs On $86M Takeovers
Hartford HealthCare Corp. must hand over internal documents detailing its $86.1 million acquisitions of two hospitals from bankrupt Prospect Medical to a group of plaintiffs who accuse the health system of trying to create a monopoly for inpatient hospital services, a Connecticut state court judge has ruled.
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February 04, 2026
Teva Fights Class Cert. Bid In Effexor Antitrust Case
Teva Pharmaceuticals urged a New Jersey federal judge Wednesday to reject a class certification bid by a group of direct buyers of the antidepressant drug Effexor XR and its generic versions, arguing that the proposed class failed to carry its burden showing that joinder is impracticable.
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February 04, 2026
Catholic Health System Escapes Tobacco Fee Suit In Missouri
Ascension Health Alliance escaped a former employee's proposed class action alleging a fee on tobacco-using workers' health plans violated federal benefits law, after a Missouri federal judge held the private Catholic healthcare system wasn't required to retroactively reimburse surcharges for workers who completed a tobacco cessation program.
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February 04, 2026
Drugmaker Claims Stake In La. Mail-Order Abortion Meds Row
An abortion medication manufacturer asserted its right Wednesday to defend mifepristone, moving to intervene in a federal lawsuit over mail-order abortion medication brought by Louisiana alleging that regulators violated federal law by removing an in-person dispensing requirement for the drug.
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February 03, 2026
NC County Faces Suit For Obstructing State Housing Benefit
A North Carolina county misapplied state law and violated the state's constitution in retroactively deeming adult care home residents ineligible for state benefits based on a county commissioner's former ownership of those homes, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in North Carolina federal court.
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February 03, 2026
4 Things To Know As DOL Pitches Transparency For PBMs
The U.S. Department of Labor's proposal to require pharmacy benefit managers to give employer-provided health plans detailed information on fees and compensation is a welcome development, benefits attorneys on both sides of the bar say. Here, Law360 looks at four things to know about the proposed regulations.
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February 03, 2026
Masimo Investors' $34M Deal In Revenue Suit Gets Initial OK
Masimo Corp. and its investors have received initial approval of a $33.8 million deal to settle claims that the medical and audio device company based its sales and revenue projections on unrealistic expectations for demand.
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February 03, 2026
Seeking Rural Health Funds, States Mull Limiting Their Powers
A $50 billion federal fund for rural healthcare providers is prompting some policymakers to rethink laws requiring medical facilities to get state approval for new or expanded facilities.
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February 03, 2026
Abortion Access Org. Launches With Challenge To Ark. Ban
A newly formed abortion-rights legal group filed a constitutional challenge to anti-abortion laws in Arkansas. Law360 Healthcare Authority speaks with Molly Duane, Amplify Legal's litigation director, and takes a look at the case.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking Ore. Law's Limits On PE Healthcare Investment
A recent Oregon law imposes significant restrictions on nonphysicians owning or controlling medical practices, but newly enacted amendments provide some additional flexibility in certain ownership arrangements without scuttling the law's intent of addressing concerns about the rise of private equity investment in healthcare, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Criminal Healthcare Fraud Takeaways From 4th Circ. Reversal
After the Fourth Circuit reversed a doctor’s postconviction acquittal in U.S. v. Elfenbein last month, defense attorneys should consider three strategies when handling complex criminal healthcare matters, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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AG Watch: Texas Embraces The MAHA Movement
Attorneys at Kelley Drye examine Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's actions related to the federal Make America Healthy Again movement, and how these actions hinge on representations or omissions by the target companies as opposed to specific analyses of the potential health risks.
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How States Are Regulating Health Insurers' AI Usage
The absence of a federal artificial intelligence framework positions states as key regulators of health insurers’ AI use, making it important for payors and service providers to understand the range of state AI legislation being passed in California and elsewhere, and consider implementing an AI-focused compliance infrastructure, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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HHS Plan To Cut Immigrant Benefits Spurs Provider Questions
A recent notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identifying new federal public benefit programs for which nonqualified aliens are not eligible may have a major impact on entities that participate in these programs — but many questions remain unanswered, say attorneys at Foley.
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Noncompete Forecast Shows Tough Weather For Employers
Several new state noncompete laws signal rough conditions for employers, particularly in the healthcare sector, so employers must account for employees' geographic circumstances as they cannot rely solely on choice-of-law clauses, say lawyers at McDermott.
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Previewing State Efforts To Regulate Mental Health Chatbots
New York, Nevada and Utah have all recently enacted laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence to deliver mental health services, offering early insights into how other states may regulate this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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How DOJ's New Data Security Rules Leave HIPAA In The Dust
The U.S. Department of Justice's recently effective data security requirements carry profound implications for how healthcare providers collect, store, share and use data — and approach vendor oversight — that go far beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.
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Texas Med Spas Must Prepare For 2 New State Laws
Two new laws in Texas — regulating elective intravenous therapy and reforming healthcare noncompetes — mark a pivotal shift in the regulatory framework for medical spas in the state, which must proactively adapt their operations and contractual practices, says Brad Cook at Munsch Hardt.
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DOJ-HHS Collab Crystallizes Focus On Health Enforcement
The recently announced partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat False Claims Act violations, following a multiyear trend of high-dollar DOJ recoveries, signals a long-term enforcement horizon with major implications for healthcare entities and whistleblowers, say attorneys at RJO.
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How The Healthline Privacy Settlement Redefines Ad Tech Use
The Healthline settlement is the first time California has drawn a clear line in the sand around how website tracking must function in practice, so if your site uses tracking technologies, especially around sensitive content like health or finance, regulators are inspecting your website's back end, not just its banner, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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How Sweeping Budget Bill Shakes Up Health Industry
With the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act marking one of the most significant overhauls of federal health policy since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, providers, managed care organizations and life sciences companies must now shift focus from policy review to implementation planning, say advisers at Holland & Knight.
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New DOJ Penalty Policy Could Spell Trouble For Cos.
In light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently published guidance making victim relief a core condition of coordinated resolution crediting, companies facing parallel investigations must carefully calibrate their negotiation strategies to minimize the risk of duplicative penalties, say attorneys at Debevoise.