Press Room

The Affordable Care Act

Jay Angoff has been widely featured discussing both the substantive provisions of the Affordable Care Act–also known as Obamacare–and the political debate surrounding the Act

• SW Parra, Missouri is ‘Unique’ in Failing to Protect Consumers From Health Insurance Rate Hikes, Kansas City Star, August 5, 2015.
• Robert Pear, Obama Administration Urges States to Cut Health Insurers’ Requests for Big Rate Increases, New York Times, August 3, 2015.
• Julie Rovner, HHS Pushes States To Negotiate Lower Obamacare Rates, PBS, July 23, 2015.
• Louise Radnofsky, Appeals Court Blocks Missouri’s Limits on Health-Law Advisers, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2015.
• Marie French, Missouri health care navigator law pre-empted, court rules, Associated Press, April 10, 2015.
• Samantha Liss, Court rules against Missouri’s attempt to limit health insurance navigators, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 10, 2015.
• Alex Wayne, Obamacare May Get More Time for a Solution, Justice Alito Says, Bloomberg, March 4, 2015.
• Editorial Board, EDITORIAL: Forget ‘repeal, replace.’ Fix Obamacare with these 4 tweaks, Palm Beach Post, December 9, 2014.
• Robert Pear, Health Law Recasts Insurers as Obama Allies, New York Times, November 17, 2014.
• [VIDEO] Jay Angoff and Ronan Farrow, Obamacare: The Gruber effect, MSNBC, November 14, 2014.
• Paige Winfield Cunningham, New Obamacare furor: Was Jonathan Gruber the “architect”?, Politico, November 13, 2014.
• Durrie Bouscaren, Rate Review Laws Could Reduce Health Insurance Costs, Consumer Group Says, St. Louis Public Radio, November 12, 2014.
• Maggie Fox, Here to Stay: Why the New Republican Congress Can’t Gut Obamacare, November 8, 2014.
• Selena Hill, Affordable Care Act Reform: What’s Going to Happen to Obamacare Now That Republicans Are in Control of the Senate?, Latin Post, November 8, 2014.
• Louise Radnofsky, Obamacare Premium Changes Coming Soon – But Not by Election Day, Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2014.
• Alex Wayne, Obamacare Rate Increases Low as Insurer Competition Grows, Bloomberg, October 31, 2014.
• Michael Hiltzik, This Democratic ‘reform’ would make Obamacare more expensive. Bad idea., Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2014.
• [VIDEO] Jay Angoff and panel, HHS delays going public with insurers’ rates, Fox and Friends, October 11, 2014.
• Jordan Shapiro, Missouri consumer group sues feds over health insurance rate information, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 2, 2014.
• Jason Millman, HHS is hiding health insurance rate hikes, former official charges, Washington Post, October 1, 2014.
• Dan Mangan, Lawsuit: Officials keeping Obamacare rates secret, CNBC, October 1, 2014.
• Heather Hollingsworth, Consumer Group Sues Over Missouri Insurance Rates, Associated Press, October 1, 2014.
• Brett Norman, If Obamacare subsidies go, states may have workarounds. Politico, July 22, 2014.
• Alex Wayne, Insurers Joining More Obamacare Exchanges Next Year. Bloomberg, May 17, 2014.
• Brianna Ehley, Over $5 Billion and Counting for Obamacare Websites. Fiscal Times, May 13, 2014.
• Mark Trumbull, Obamacare: How much did taxpayers spend on clumsy state exchanges? Christian Science Monitor, May 13, 2014.
• Chris Conover, Obamacare Exchanges Squander Taxpayer Dollars By The Boatload. Forbes, May 12, 2014.
• Jay Angoff on Republican opposition to Obamacare. MSNBC, May 10, 2014.
• Julie Rovner, Report: Federal Exchange A Comparative Bargain. Kaiser Health News, May 8, 2014.
• German Lopez, Hawaii’s Obamacare exhange cost nearly $24,000 per enrollee. Vox, May 8, 2014.
• Sarah Hurtubise, States That Opposed Obamacare Spent The Least Per Person On Enrollment. Daily Caller, May 8, 2014.
• Top challenge for US health nominee will be to keep insurance costs low. Bloomberg, April 14, 2014.
• State to miss target. Associated Press, April 2, 2014.
• Jay Angoff on enrollment deadline. MSNBC, March 30, 2014.
• Jay Angoff on enrollment deadline. Fox News, March 29, 2014.
• Cities find loophole in health training rule. Associated Press, February 21, 2014.
• Kelly Kennedy, Court ruling ends Missouri’s right to limit navigators. USA Today, January 23, 2014.
• Sy Mukherjee, Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Missouri’s Restrictions On Obamacare Navigators. ThinkProgress, January 23, 2014.
• Geoffrey Cowley, Can Missouri fine you for talking about health care?. MSNBC, December 3, 2013.
• Julie Rovner, Nonprofits Challenge Missouri Licensing Law For Insurance Guides. NPR, December 3, 2013.
• Virginia Young, Lawsuit challenges Missouri licensing law for health care ‘navigators’. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 2, 2013.

Government Shutdown/Federal Labor Standards Act

When the government shut down last fall, 1.3 million federal workers, deemed “essential” employees, continued to work without guarantee of pay. Mehri & Skalet’s suit on their behalf, Martin et. al vs. United States of America, claimed that the government had violated its own labor law in so doing. The suit made waves in the Beltway and beyond.

• Alison Knezevich, Lawsuit over 2013 shutdown grows as federal workers learn of eligibility, Baltimore Sun, April 1, 2015.
• Sarah Westwood, Federal workers suing government for delayed paychecks from 2013 shutdown, Washington Examiner, March 16, 2015.
• Associated Press, Federal workers can sue over pay delays in 2013 shutdown, Associated Press, March 10, 2015.
• Staff Writer, Federal workers join mass suit seeking damages in 2013 shutdown, Russia Today, March 10, 2015.
• Josh Hicks, Federal government tells workers they can join suit over ’13 partial shutdown, Washington Post, March 9, 2015.
• Andy Medici, Shutdown lawsuit grows, feds to be told of eligibility, Federal Times, March 9, 2015.
• Daniel June, Federal Employees are Allowed to Join 2013 Shutdown Lawsuit, JD Journal, March 9, 2015.
• Rebecca Shabad, Federal workers invited to sue over shutdown,The Hill, March 6, 2015.
• Eric Katz, DoJ Will Notify Nearly 1 Million Feds of Eligibility to Join Shutdown Lawsuit, Government Executive, March 6, 2015.
• [AUDIO] DHS News, Heidi Burakiewicz, Partner, Mehri & Skalet PLLC, Federal News Radio, February 26, 2015.
• [AUDIO] Heidi Burakiewicz, Partner, Mehri & Skalet PLLC, on Government Shutdown Lawsuit, Federal News Radio, December 4, 2014.
• Eric Katz, Nearly 1 Million Feds Will Soon Be Notified of Their Right to Join Shutdown Lawsuit, Government Executive, November 25, 2014.
• Rebecca Shabad, Federal employees who worked 2013 shutdown inch closer to pay, The Hill, November 21, 2014.
• Andy Medici, Hundreds of thousands of feds can join multimillion shutdown lawsuit, Federal Times, November 21, 2014.
• Josh Hicks, Should ‘essential’ federal employees receive additional shutdown pay? Washington Post, August 5, 2014.
• Rebecca Shabad, Federal employees who worked 2013 shutdown might receive more pay. The Hill, August 5, 2014.
• Zoe Tillman, Feds Violated Labor Law During Shutdown, Judge Says. Legal Times, August 4, 2014.
• Claire Zillman, Workers’ lawsuit over government shutdown gains steam. Fortune.com, February 3, 2014.
• Ian Duncan, Workers sue over shutdown pay delays. The Baltimore Sun, December 21, 2013.
• Kellie Lunney, Federal Employees Sue Government Over Shutdown. National Journal, November 4, 2013.
• Dave Jamieson, Federal Workers Sue Government For Withholding Pay During Shutdown. Huffington Post, November 1, 2013.
• Mike Conneen, Federal workers sue government post-shutdown. WJLA, November 4, 2013.
• Staff, Employees Required to Work Without Pay During Shutdown Sue Government. NBC4, November 4, 2013.
• Ben James, ‘Essential’ Workers Sue US Over Late Pay From Shutdown. Law360, November 4, 2013.

Reverse Mortgages

Mehri & Skalet worked with the AARP Litigation Foundation to secure a win on behalf of elderly reverse mortgage-holders. In Bennett, et al v. Shaun Donovan, Secretary, HUD, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that HUD violated federal law by failing to protect the surviving spouses of reverse mortgage-holders. The case generated coverage including the following:

• Martha C. White, Widow’s Reverse Mortgage ‘Nightmare’ Underscores Lifeline’s Risks. NBC News, July 2, 2015.
• Bonnie Sinnock, National Mortgage News: HUD Reverses Course on Nonborrowing Spouse Foreclosures, National Mortgage News, May 1, 2015.
• Juliette Fairley, New Reverse Mortgage Policy Leaves Widows and Widowers Homeless, Mainstreet, April 23, 2015.
• Trey Garrison, Will grandma get run over by HUD’s reverse mortgage policy?, Housing Wire, March 12, 2015.
• Bonnie Sinnock, Reverse Mortgage Relief Costly for Industry, Dubious for Consumer, National Mortgage News, February 3, 2015.
• Bonnie Sinnock, HECM Non-Borrowing Spouses Renew Class Certification Attempts, American Banker, November 17, 2014.
• Michelle Singletary, Reverse mortgages must be understood to avoid regrets, Washington Post, September 23, 2014.
• Marilyn Lewis, New Reverse Mortgage Rules Protect Widow(er)s from Eviction. Money Talks News, July 14, 2014.
• Elizabeth Ecker, Surviving Spouses File Reverse Mortgage Lawsuit Against HUD. Reverse Mortgage Daily, March 2, 2014.
• Tara Bahrampour, Surviving spouses sue HUD over reverse mortgage rules that leave them in the cold. Washington Post, February 27, 2014.
• Andrew Zajac, Reverse-Mortgage Rule on Surviving Spouse Tossed by Judge. Bloomberg, October 1, 2013.
• Kat Greene, Spouse Repayment Of Reverse Mortgages Nixed By Judge. Law360, October 1, 2013.
• Nick Timiraos, Federal Reverse-Mortgage Program Takes a Hit in Ruling. Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2013.

Employment Discrimination

• Staff Writer, Discrimination au travail: la Cour suprême des États-Unis s’est rangée du côté des femmes enceintes, AFPQC, March 25, 2015.
• Florence Anthony, ‘Y&R’ star Victoria Rowell files diversity lawsuit, New York Amsterdam News, February 19, 2015.
• Emily Yahr, Soap star Victoria Rowell wants her ‘Young and the Restless’ job back, sues CBS, Sony for discrimination, Washington Post, February 13, 2015.
• Ted Thornhill, Former ‘The Young And The Restless’ star Victoria Rowell sues CBS and Sony claiming racial discrimination after she was ‘blackballed’ from the show, Daily Mail, February 14, 2015.
• [VIDEO] Victoria Rowell Interview & Press Conference, Serial Scoop Now, February 13, 2015.
• Staff Writer, Wal Mart Stores: New Claims Filed Against Walmart for Failing to Accommodate Pregnant Workers, SyndiGate Media Inc., December 23, 2014.
• Katie McDonough, Wal-Mart in hot water again for allegedly treating pregnant workers like dirt, Salon, December 18, 2014.
• Jessica Mason Pieklo, Lawsuit: Walmart Continues to Discriminate Against Pregnant Workers, RH Reality Check, December 17, 2014.
• Bryce Covert, Pregnant Walmart Worker Alleges Discrimination and Unfair Firing, ThinkProgress, September 25, 2014.
• Ashley Helms, Walmart Fires Pregnant Worker After Changing Its Policies. Headlines and Global News, August 4, 2014.
• Callie Beusman, Walmart Fires Worker for Being Pregnant. Jezebel, August 4, 2014.
• Bryce Covert, Pregnant Worker: This is How Walmart Treated Me. ThinkProgress, August 4, 2014.
• Michael Martin, Does New Hiring Tool Aid Diversity or Discrimination? NPR, May 1, 2014.
• Irin Carmon, Why the GOP is wrong about the pay gap. MSNBC.com, April 8, 2014.
• Simon Stone, Ade Akinbiyi working to buck trend on black managers in England. BBC Sport, April 12, 2014.

Rooney Rule/NFL/Football

• Andrew Marston, Should the Premier League Introduce a ‘Rooney Rule’ like the NFL?, GiveMeSports.Com, August 6, 2015.
• Alan Siegel, How A Multiple-Choice Test Became A Fixture Of The NFL Draft, FiveThirtyEight Sports, April 30, 2015.
• Louis Bien, How the Player Assessment Tool may save NFL teams from themselves, SB Nation, March 19, 2015.
• Sara Ganim, More Lawsuits In UNC Academic Scandal, CNN, February 25, 2015.
• Rick Cohen, Fritz Pollard Alliance Rips Snyder’s Washington NFL Team on MLK Day, Non-Profit Quarterly, January 21, 2015.
• John Woodrow Cox and Mark Maske, Civil rights group closely allied with the NFL calls for the Redskins to change its name, Washington Post, January 19, 2015.
• Mike Florio, Fritz Pollard Alliance seeking answers on Tannenbaum hire, NBC Sports, January 10, 2015.
• Sara Ganim, Former UNC athlete sues school over academic scandal, CNN, November 10, 2014.
• Jon Solomon, Former North Carolina football player sues school over academic scandal, CBS Sports, November 8, 2014.
• Anna Kessel, Time ripe for Rooney Rule talks with numbers of black managers at low, Guardian, November 1, 2014.
• Simon Chadwick, Football Needs a ‘Rooney Rule’ to Tackle Institutional Racism, iSportConnect, October 17, 2014.
• Richard Conway, Rooney Rule: ‘British football may need to consider legal action’, BBC Sport, October 15, 2014.
• Richard Conway, ‘Rooney Rule’: Football has nothing to lose, says Dan Rooney, BBC Sport, October 3, 2014.
• Liam Toland, Towards developing our talent and using it where it’s most needed. Irish Times, May 9, 2014.
• Joseph Stromberg, Reminder: The NFL’s Wonderlic aptitute test is totally worthless. Vox, May 8, 2014.
• Simon Stone, Ade Akinbiyi working to buck trend on black managers in England. BBC, April 15, 2014.