Maine Community Health Options v. United States
Consolidated with:
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-1023 | Fed. Cir. | Dec 10, 2019 | Apr 27, 2020 | 8-1 | Sotomayor | OT 2019 |
Holding: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s now expired “Risk Corridors” statute—which set a formula for calculating payments to healthcare insurers for unexpectedly unprofitable plans during the first three years of online insurance marketplaces—created a government obligation to pay insurers the full amount of their computed losses; and the petitioners properly relied on the Tucker Act to sue for damages in the Court of Federal Claims.
Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 8-1, in an opinion by Justice Sotomayor on April 27, 2020. Justices Thomas and Gorsuch joined the court's opinion except for Part III-C. Justice Alito filed a dissenting opinion.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Opinion analysis: Decisive win for health insurers seeking compensation for ACA losses (Amy Howe, April 27, 2020)
- Live blog of orders and opinions (Update: Completed) (Kalvis Golde, April 27, 2020)
- Argument analysis: Justices appear sympathetic to insurers in dispute over risk-corridor compensation (Amy Howe, December 10, 2019)
- Argument preview: Justices to consider Affordable Care Act, risk corridors and implied repeals (Amy Howe, December 4, 2019)
- Relist Watch (John Elwood, October 9, 2019)
- Justices bulk up next term’s docket (Amy Howe, June 24, 2019)
- Relist Watch (John Elwood, June 20, 2019)
- Petitions of the week (Aurora Barnes, March 8, 2019)
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
|---|---|
| Feb 04 2019 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 8, 2019) |
| Feb 22 2019 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Maine Community Health Options |
| Feb 25 2019 | Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 8, 2019 to April 8, 2019, submitted to The Clerk. |
| Feb 27 2019 | Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 8, 2019. |
| Mar 08 2019 | Brief amici curiae of Economists filed. VIDED. |
| Mar 08 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association filed. VIDED. |
| Mar 29 2019 | Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 8, 2019 to May 8, 2019, submitted to The Clerk. |
| Apr 01 2019 | Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 8, 2019. |
| May 08 2019 | Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed. VIDED. |
| May 22 2019 | Reply of petitioner Maine Community Health Options filed. |
| May 28 2019 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/13/2019. |
| Jun 17 2019 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/20/2019. |
| Jun 24 2019 | Petition GRANTED. The petitions for writs of certiorari in No. 18-1028 and No. 18-1038 are granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED. |
| Jun 24 2019 | Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 18-1023. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 18-1023. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.” (July 17, 2019) |
| Jun 28 2019 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Maine Community Health Options |
| Jul 12 2019 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Moda Health Plan, Inc. |
| Jul 17 2019 | Joint motion of the parties for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed. VIDED. |
| Jul 17 2019 | Joint motion of the parties to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' briefs on the merits is extended to and including August 30, 2019. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including October 21, 2019. VIDED. |
| Jul 30 2019 | Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioners. VIDED. |
| Aug 16 2019 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Compan, and Illinois Nonprofit Insurance Corporation |
| Aug 30 2019 | Brief of petitioner Maine Community Health Options filed. |
| Aug 30 2019 | Brief of petitioner Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Company filed. VIDED. |
| Aug 30 2019 | Brief of petitioners Moda Health Plan, Inc., and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina filed (in 18-1028). |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of America's Health Insurance Plans filed. VIDED |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed (in 18-1028). |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amici curiae of Highmark Inc., et al. filed. VIDED. |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association filed. VIDED. |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Insurance Commissioners filed. VIDED. |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amici curiae of 24 States and the District of Columbia filed. VIDED. |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of Association for Community Affiliated Plans filed. VIDED |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amici curiae of Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation and WPS Health Plan, Inc. filed. VIDED. |
| Sep 06 2019 | Brief amici curiae of Economists and Professors M. Kate Bundorf, et al. filed. VIDED |
| Sep 13 2019 | SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, December 10, 2019. VIDED. |
| Oct 07 2019 | Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioners GRANTED. VIDED. |
| Oct 21 2019 | Brief of respondent United States filed. VIDED. |
| Oct 23 2019 | Record requested from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit. |
| Oct 25 2019 | CIRCULATED |
| Oct 25 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of Americans for Prosperity filed. VIDED. (Distributed) |
| Oct 25 2019 | Motion for enlargement of time for oral argument and for divided argument filed by petitioners. VIDED. |
| Nov 05 2019 | Record from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer. |
| Nov 12 2019 | Motion for enlargement of time for oral argument and for divided argument DENIED. VIDED. |
| Nov 19 2019 | Reply of petitioner Maine Community Health Options filed (in 18-1023). (Distributed) |
| Nov 20 2019 | Reply of petitioner Moda Health Plan, Inc. filed (in 18-1028). (Distributed) |
| Nov 20 2019 | Reply of petitioner Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Company filed. VIDED. (Distributed) |
| Dec 10 2019 | Argued. For petitioners: Paul D. Clement, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. VIDED. |
| Apr 27 2020 | Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined, and in which Thomas and Gorsuch, JJ., joined as to all but Part III–C. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion. VIDED. |
| May 29 2020 | JUDGMENT ISSUED. |
