Overnight Healthcare: Trump officials weigh fate of birth control mandate | House, DOJ seek delay in ObamaCare lawsuit

The era of free birth control for women could be coming to an end.

The requirement that insurance companies cover contraception at no cost is believed to be on the chopping block now that Tom Price has taken over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Price opposed the mandate as a member of Congress and could take aim at the regulation — and other rules related to ObamaCare — as Republicans in Congress move to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

“There’s a lot of pressure on this administration and a lot of people within the administration who clearly have an agenda that runs contrary to this provision,” said Adam Sonfield, a senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a liberal think tank.

“It certainly looks like a strong possibility that they’re going to try to do something.”

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2lDJwQE

House, DOJ ask for delay in ObamaCare lawsuit

Republican lawmakers and the Department of Justice are asking for more time to decide whether they want to move forward in the House’s lawsuit over ObamaCare’s cost-sharing subsidies.

The House and the DOJ made the request in a joint motion Tuesday.

The House filed the lawsuit two years ago, arguing that the cost-sharing reductions to insurers are illegal because Congress has not provided a specific appropriation for them.

{mosads}The payments go to insurance companies to reduce the out-of-pocket costs for ObamaCare enrollees.

Republicans are now considering whether they will continue the payments to keep the ObamaCare exchange markets from collapsing as they work toward repealing and replacing ObamaCare.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2lkcq7V

Top lawmakers from both parties: ‘Vaccines save lives’

Top lawmakers from both parties are signing onto a bipartisan “dear colleague” letter to members of Congress to says that “vaccines save lives.”

While the letter did not mention President Trump, he has publicly questioned the effectiveness of vaccines and whether they are linked to autism.

“We write to you today to highlight the importance of immunizations, which protect Americans, especially infants and children, against outbreaks of serious and deadly infectious diseases,” reads the letter, signed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairman and ranking member of the Senate’s health committee, respectively.

The letter is also signed by Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), chairman and ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, and Texas Reps. Michael Burgess (R) and Gene Green (D), chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee on health.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2m9pY4u

Virginia gov vetoes bill to defund Planned Parenthood

Virginia’s Democratic governor on Tuesday vetoed a bill from the GOP-majority state legislature that would have defunded Planned Parenthood.

“It’s time that our General Assembly understands that we have a responsibility to protect the rights and dignity of women,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said at a press conference.

“Without access to reproductive care and the freedom to exercise choice, women are denied the choice to make deeply personal health decisions.”

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2l5hsCL

What we’re reading

With coverage in peril and Obama gone, health law’s critics go quiet (New York Times)

Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas (The Washington Post)

This time, Grassley hears pro-ObamaCare voices (Politico)

State by state

Hundreds at Alaska rally urge senators to support Planned Parenthood (Alaska Dispatch News)

Initiative to expand Medicaid qualifies for Maine ballot (Main Public Radio)

Kansas Medicaid expansion dead barring supermajority vote (Associated Press)