Grey's Anatomy Creator Has A New Show, Plus More

shonda rhimes, abc, Shondaland, movies/tv

Today we've got: Shondaland preps for a new roller coaster, the Obamacare shuffle

1. Shondaland Gets Star-Crossed


The Short of It

You can thank the T.V. gods now. Shonda Rhimes, creator of "Grey's Anatomy", just got a new show on ABC.

The Longer Version of It

ABC just rolled out a bunch of new shows and had a cancel rampage, massacring shows like Nashville, Castle and the Muppets in the process. No worries though, they spared shows on the Shondaland train and picked up a period drama from the "Grey's Anatomy" creator called "Still Star-Crossed".

The show picks up where the famous story of Romeo and Juliet left off and is based on the book by Melinda Taub. Despite the death of Juliet, Romeo, Mercurio and Tybalt the feud between the houses of Capulet and Montague continue to rage on (these people never learn). The story centers on Rosaline (Lashana Lynch), Juliet's intelligent and stubborn cousin who is ordered to marry Benvolio (Wade Briggs), a Montague. The series will chart the deception and betrayal between the two ill-fated Verona houses .

2. Federal Judge Says Obamacare is Unconstitutional

The Short of It:

A federal judge pointed out yesterday that a critical part of Obamacare is unconstitutional.

First, Let's Roll It Back:

Two years ago, after Congress denied the House GOP's request for compensation, the House GOP sued the Obama administration for the billions of dollars it paid to insurance companies that offer healthcare at a reduced cost. Obama's administration has been fighting back ever since insisting that everything they're doing is completely kosher and by the books.

The Longer Version of It:

On Thursday, federal judge, Rosemary Collyer, sided with Republican lawmakers on the Obamacare issue, pointing out that using federal funds to pay insurance companies without the approval of Congress isn't constitutional. If Collyer's ruling is upheld by a higher court, customers of Obamacare would still get financing from insurance companies to lower out-of-pocket medical costs, but insurers would get zero reimbursement from the federal government.

With $150 billion dollars originally assumed to be paid to insurers over the next decade, that's a lot stake. The loss could lead troves of insurers to exit the Obamacare market, or raise premium prices to compensate for the money they'll lose.

The Takeaway

Obamacare's been on the GOP's list since it was passed in 2010. The president's statue was meant to be the shining glory of his administration but it's continued to face lots of criticism from the House. If the ruling is ultimately upheld, and the Obama administration isn't allowed to reimburse insurers on Obamacare millions of people will face a huge threat to their health insurance plans.
