ABA Advocacy: The first session of the 119th Congress

The first session of the 119th Congress convened on Jan. 3, 2025, with Republicans taking control of both chambers following Donald Trump’s reelection. What ensued was a turbulent session that adjourned Jan. 3, 2026, marked by bitter disputes among members, challenges to Speaker Mike Johnson by members of his own party, and a standoff over Affordable Care Act subsidy extensions that ultimately triggered the 43-day government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history.

Jan 14, 2026 9:24 AM CST

Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act’s preventive care mandate

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act that requires health plans to provide free preventive care such as cancer screenings.

Jun 27, 2025 9:51 AM CDT

Supreme Court agrees to review cases involving student loan debt and preventive care

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear three new cases, including challenges to a federal rule that forgives student debt and to the part of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance companies to cover some preventive care services.

Jan 13, 2025 3:20 PM CST

Judge cuts Quinn Emanuel’s $185M fee, an amount deemed ‘astronomical’ by objectors

A federal judge has slashed a $185 million fee that she initially awarded to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an amount that translated to about $18,500 per hour for its work in an insurance class action lawsuit.

Oct 14, 2024 1:12 PM CDT

Insurance coverage for preventive care at risk unless Supreme Court acts, cert petition says

The federal government is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a federal appeals court decision that could end free preventive care services provided by health insurance.

Sep 24, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

5th Circuit rejects nationwide injunction in challenge to task force’s insurer mandates

A task force that issued preventive care mandates for insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act had “unreviewable power” that violated the Constitution, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Jun 25, 2024 1:02 PM CDT

When states’ rights and health care access clash

From the COVID-19 response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the results of 50 states having individual approaches to public health, medical outcomes and health care access raise troubling questions. A husband-and-wife team of University of Utah professors dig into the ethics of the American health care system in States of Health: The Ethics and Consequences of Policy Variation in a Federal System.

May 15, 2024 4:40 PM CDT

Quinn Emanuel disclosure order highlights relatively new product: judgment preservation insurance

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan must disclose terms of judgment preservation insurance that it allegedly bought before distributing a $185 million fee award to partners, according to a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge.

Jan 31, 2024 3:39 PM CST

Insurers don’t have to provide free HIV-prevention drugs, some cancer screenings as result of federal judge’s ruling

A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, has blocked requirements for insurers to provide some preventive-care services for free, including drugs for HIV prevention and screenings for depression, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted diseases and some kinds of cancer.

Mar 30, 2023 1:29 PM CDT

Supreme Court accepts challenge to funding of consumer bureau that could put 12 years of CFPB actions at risk

Feb 27, 2023 10:37 AM CST

Judge’s failure to conduct ‘lodestar cross-check’ dooms Quinn Emanuel’s $185M fee award

A trial judge should not have awarded $185 million in fees to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan without conducting a “lodestar cross-check” that considers hours worked and billing rates, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Feb 1, 2023 10:53 AM CST

HIV-prevention drug coverage violated religious rights of employer opposed to ‘homosexual behavior,’ judge rules

A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, has ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurance plans cover HIV-prevention drugs violates the statutory rights of employers with religious objections. The plaintiffs had argued that providing compulsory coverage for PrEP drugs makes them “complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior.”

Sep 8, 2022 3:55 PM CDT

How Jones Day’s ‘conservative machine’ helped shape policy in the Trump administration

After the election of former President Donald Trump, many Jones Day lawyers “sailed into his White House, the Justice Department and other parts of his administration,” signaling the influence of the corporate law firm that had built a practice helping Republicans win elections and attain their political goals.

Aug 30, 2022 12:56 PM CDT

Justice Breyer, Supreme Court’s oldest member, will retire, reports say

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, according to media reports that rely on anonymous sources. The liberal Breyer, 83, is the oldest justice on the court.

Jan 26, 2022 11:33 AM CST

An increasing number of physicians are dismissing patients, but are they doing it legally?

Few physicians will admit to ghosting a patient. It’s the type of behavior that could lead to a lawsuit or a patient complaint to a state medical board. In some areas of medicine, patient dismissal rates are increasing, with physicians firing their patients directly and telling them to seek care elsewhere.

Oct 1, 2021 2:40 AM CDT