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If you are one of the 3 million Americans who bought health insurance on an Affordable Care Act state exchange, you may be surprised to open up the mail this summer and find two separate monthly bills. Under a new rule finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services in December, insurers are now required to issue a separate invoice for the amount of your premium that they attribute to abortion services. So you’ll get one bill for abortion services and another for the rest of your insurance coverage. (Cha, 12/26)

As a candidate for the White House, Donald Trump repeatedly promised that he would “immediately” replace President Barack Obama’s health care law with a plan of his own that would provide “insurance for everybody.” Back then, Trump made it sound that his plan — “much less expensive and much better” than the Affordable Care Act — was imminent. And he put drug companies on notice that their pricing power no longer would be “politically protected.” (12/30)

A U.S. appeals court upheld the validity of a federal program governing the payment of billions of dollars to insurers under the Affordable Care Act, reversing a lower court ruling that had prompted the White House to temporarily suspend payments. Tuesday's 3-0 decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver is a victory for insurers that feared the Feb. 2018 lower court ruling and payments suspension could drive up premium costs and cause market turmoil. (Stempel, 12/31)

Rhode Island residents must now have health insurance or face a penalty on their taxes.The state’s taxation division released a list of tax changes taking effect Wednesday, including the new health insurance mandate. Residents who do not have minimum essential coverage in 2020, and do not qualify for an exemption, will face a penalty next year when filing a state tax return for 2020. (1/1)