The House subcommittee probing the government's COVID response will hold a hearing in April about intelligence collected by the U.S. that could shed light on COVID's origins, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The committee plans a series of hearings that will build a narrative arc about COVID origins — including intelligence, science and use of the media, a source familiar with committee leaders' thinking tells us.
The Justice Department on Friday appealed a federal judge's decision to invalidate the Affordable Care Act requirement for free coverage of specified preventive health services.
Why it matters: The move kicks off a legal process that could wind up at the Supreme Court and has financial implications for some 150 million Americans on employer-sponsored health plans.
A Medicare Advantage lobbying group that's emerged as the biggest political ad spender this year appears focused on prodding endangered Democratic incumbents in battleground states to turn back a package of Biden administration policy changes.
Better Medicare Alliance spent $13.5 million on media spots through March 31, according to data collected by AdImpact and shared with Axios. The group declined to comment.
The Idaho legislature on Thursday evening passed the nation's first law that makes it illegal for minors to travel out-of-state to get an abortion without parental consent. The bill now heads to the governor's desk.
Why it matters: This is the first time that a state has put a law on the books that restricts its residents from interstate travel for abortion access.
Thursday's federal court ruling against the Affordable Care Act's preventive services requirement won't bring a seismic shift to employer-sponsored health care. But experts say it could well add new costs for the approximately 100 million privately insured people who use such services.
The big picture: The ruling immediately removes a legal requirement of no-cost coverage for certain skin and lung cancer screenings, statins for heart disease, medications that prevent HIV and other services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes.
Democrats may hate the substance of yesterday's court ruling striking down elements of the Affordable Care Act — this time, its requirement that employers cover certain preventative care services. But politically, it feeds right into the party's 2024 campaign narrative.
Why it matters: Defending the ACA has been a tried-and-true strategy for Democrats since the GOP tried to repeal it in 2017. Judicial threats to the law easily fold into messaging about right-wing extremist judges that the party has been building on since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.
While Republican politicians in some states work to limit gender-affirming care for transgender young people, a number of Democratic-controlled legislatures are doing the opposite.
What's happening: Democratic lawmakers in more than a dozen states, including Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Vermont, want to shield patients and providers.
