Could a federal judge in Texas be the catalyst that finally brings down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a law that has withstood countless assaults from Republicans in Congress and two Supreme Court challenges? On the morning after Judge Reed O’Connor’s startling ruling that struck down the landmark health law, legal scholars were doubtful. Lawyers on both sides of previous ACA battles said the reasoning behind this one was badly flawed, notably in its insistence that the entire 2010 law must fall because one of its provisions may have been rendered invalid by the 2017 tax overhaul legislation. (Jan Hoffman, Robert Pear, and Adam Liptak, New York Times)

Friday night’s ruling by a federal judge in Texas that the ACA must be scrapped once again puts the law front and center as Democrats prepare to take back the House just weeks from now. The ruling is sure to be appealed, and the Trump administration says it's business as usual in the meantime. But the decision spells bad news for Republicans, by allowing Democrats to replay a potent health care message that helped them flip 40 House seats: that the GOP remains hellbent on gutting Obamacare and rolling back protections for preexisting conditions. (Paul Demko and Adam Cancryn, Politico)

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that 4.2 million uninsured people are eligible for Obamacare coverage at no cost at all. The study, published Tuesday, finds that those people can find an Obamacare plan for $0 in premiums due to the financial assistance under the health care law being high enough to completely cover the cost of the cheapest Obamacare options, known as bronze plans. (Peter Sullivan, The Hill)

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear two cases arising from efforts by states to bar Planned Parenthood clinics from the Medicaid program, drawing a rebuke from the court’s three most conservative justices and opening a window onto the court’s internal dynamics. It takes four votes to add a case to the court’s docket, but the cases attracted only three — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch. Neither of the court’s other conservatives — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh — proved willing to supply a fourth vote. In letting stand two decisions allowing patients to challenge state funding determinations, the Supreme Court effectively sided with Planned Parenthood. (Adam Liptak, New York Times)

A divided U.S. appeals court Thursday blocked rules by the Trump administration that allowed more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control. The ruling, however, may be short lived because the administration has adopted new rules on contraceptive coverage that are set to take effect next month and will likely prompt renewed legal challenges. (Sudhin Thanawala, Associated Press)

One of the big winners in November’s midterm election was public health insurance coverage – specifically expansion of Medicaid under the ACA. Three conservative states – Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah – passed ballot measures expanding their programs. Two other states, including Kansas, elected governors who have said they will push for it. Despite Republican resistance during the past decade, Medicaid expansion could be passed in Kansas next year, thanks to a new governor. (Peggy Lowe, NPR’s Marketplace)

The Trump administration is set to consider Oklahoma’s plan for work requirements in its Medicaid program, as the state formally submitted its request late last week. If the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approves the request, certain “able-bodied” Medicaid beneficiaries will be required to work, volunteer, or go to school for 80 hours a month beginning Feb. 1. If they fail to meet the requirements for three months, they will have their coverage removed until the requirements are met. (Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill)

In a rare moment of consensus, health care industry groups uniformly blasted the Trump administration's proposal to penalize legal immigrants for using Medicaid and other public benefit programs, warning it would have broad negative effects on the health care system, government budgets, and public health. The Department of Homeland Security received 210,889 comments on its proposed "inadmissibility on public charge grounds" rule, issued in October, when the comment period ended Monday. (Harris Meyer, Modern Healthcare)

Fentanyl is now the most commonly used drug involved in drug overdoses, according to a new government report. The latest numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics say that the rate of drug overdoses involving the synthetic opioid skyrocketed by about 113 percent each year from 2013 through 2016. (Nadia Kounang, CNN)