Mid Week Update

OPM today called interested parties' attention to its length 2015 shutdown furlough guidance. The benefits discussion is found on pages 15-19.

In relevant litigation news --

• All of the parties in the Texas v. Azar (a/k/a Texas v. United States) case have agreed that the federal district court for the Northern District of Texas should authorize an immediate appeal of the decision declaring the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit pursuant to 28 USC Sec. 1292(b). If the district court agrees with the parties on this issue, the Court of Appeals then has the discretion to accept or reject this interlocutory appeal. 
• CNBC reports that 

A U.S. federal judge reviewing an agreement between the government and CVS Health allowing it to buy health insurer Aetna has indicated that he will not halt most integration between the two companies.

Judge Richard Leon said in an order on Friday evening {December 21] that he would accept CVS’s offer to allow Aetna to independently make critical product, pricing and personnel decisions during his review.

“Based on CVS’s constructive and appropriate representations, I am satisfied that, so long as these measures remain in place, the assets involved in the challenged acquisition will remain sufficiently separate (during the review period),” Leon wrote in his order.

Check out this opinion piece on the ACA's Cadillac tax by Forbes contributor Chris Conover. In a more perfect world, as the FEHBlog has previously explicated, the employer sponsored health benefits coverage exclusion should be limited to 50% of the premium for high income earners. That is already how it works for small business owners, like the FEHBlog. That's a sounder approach than the crazy Cadillac tax which impacts all taxpayers.