In light of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, Becker's has compiled some of the justice's major opinions and decisions relating to healthcare.
This list is not exhaustive.
Five notes:
1. Ms. Ginsburg died Sept. 18, less than two months before the Supreme Court is set to hear a case questioning the legality of the Affordable Care Act Nov. 10. The Trump administration argues that the ACA is invalid because Congress eliminated the ACA's tax penalty for failing to purchase health insurance in December 2017. Ms. Ginsburg, a liberal court member, was a supporter of upholding the ACA, and her death changes prospects for the case, legal scholars told The Washington Post. For more, click here.
2. Ms. Ginsburg stated that cutting federal Medicaid funds is "a very drastic remedy" that would hurt the people Medicaid was meant to benefit, according to On the Issues.
3. In Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016, the Supreme Court's decision helped strike down a Texas law that imposed limitations on abortion clinics, Fortune reports. Ms. Ginsburg said, "When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety."
4. States have the authority to protect patient rights, according to the Court's 2002 decision in Rush Prudential HMO v. Moran, reports On the Issues. Ms. Ginsburg joined the decision that held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 doesn't preempt the Illinois HMO Act.
5. After Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, Ms. Ginsburg wrote an opinion for Olmstead v. L.C. that cemented the act's scope to include people with mental disabilities, according to Law 360.