Drug Pricing, Obamacare Rules Vulnerable After Chevron Ruling

Federal oversight of transgender care, abortion services, drug pricing, and other health policies are more open to legal challenges following the US Supreme Court’s decision to scrap a test for when courts should uphold agency regulation under vague laws.

The US Department of Health and Human Services regulates medicines, insurance, and other areas under ambiguously worded statutes. Congress has often left the specifics in the highly technical and scientific area of health law to HHS and its sub-agencies. Courts have deferred to the agency’s reading of the complex law.

The high court’s June 28 decision to end the Chevron doctrine ...