Legal Challenges

Federal regulators have shut down several companies that peddled fake healthcare services over the phone.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered Roy D. Hamilton and Judy M. Hamilton to wind down their businesses and liquidate their assets to cover an $11.9 million fine for fraudulent marketing.

The FTC filed a complaint against the Hamiltons in September alleging their companies — Health Service Providers Inc., Magnolia Health Management Corp., Magnolia Technologies Corp., and Fav Marketing Inc. — were calling consumers and offering to sign them up for health insurance coverage. 

But instead of health coverage, people who signed up received a membership in the Independent Association of Businesses (IAB) that provided “services such as golf, travel, and some limited health related services and insured benefits,” according to the FTC.

Prominent Republican lawmakers are standing behind a Christian-run arts and crafts chain in its lawsuit over the Obama administration's birth-control mandate.

A group of 11 GOP members filed an amicus brief with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. The brief argued that the Obama mandate runs contrary to a federal law protecting religious practice.

“Religious freedom is an issue our country was founded on, and it’s not a Democrat or Republican issue," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in a statement. 

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said his state will move forward with laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana after a “very satisfying” meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday.

A federal judge has dismissed the University of Notre Dame's suit against the Obama administration's birth-control coverage policy.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller wrote Monday that Notre Dame's claims of injury are not ripe and that the school does not have standing to bring them.

Miller cited the Obama administration's promise to accommodate religious institutions like Notre Dame that insure themselves.

A district judge ruled Monday that Texas can exclude Planned Parenthood from its new healthcare program for poor women.

The state has tried to defund the family-planning organization since 2011, when the state legislature passed a law prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding organizations that provide abortions.

The law prompted a lengthy court battle between Texas and Planned Parenthood clinics in the state that do not offer abortions but participated in the state's Medicaid-based program. 

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The ruling saves Catholic billionaire Tom Monaghan from paying fines for failing to comply with new contraception coverage rules. 

At issue is the health law's requirement that employers cover birth control in their health plans without copays.

A federal appeals court on Thursday declined to revisit a decision that allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia voted 6-2 to reject a request for the full court to reconsider a June ruling that upheld EPA’s interpretation of the Clean Air Act.

The court’s action could set up a Supreme Court challenge by industry, energy firms and the state of Alaska, which were pushing for the rehearing.

The court is expected to announce that it will consider whether gay marriage deserves equal treatment under federal law. 

The high court said a lower court can consider a challenge to the healthcare law's individual mandate.