By Associated Press | July 18, 2018
(Updated at 4 p.m. ET)
A federal judge in San Francisco has thrown out a lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to cut Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on Wednesday came after California and other states that sued said a workaround was largely succeeding in protecting consumers from higher costs.
The states had asked Chhabria to put the lawsuit on hold, although they also gave him the option of dismissing the lawsuit.
The states said in a court filing on Monday that they allowed insurers to raise premiums on some plans offered on healthcare exchanges. That trigged additional tax credits for many consumers that more than made up for the lost subsidies on copays and deductibles.
The U.S. Justice Department said it had no comment on the states' request.
President Donald Trump announced last October that he was ending government payments intended to reimburse insurers for providing low-income people with discounts on out-of-pocket costs.
He said then that former President Barack Obama's health care law was imploding, and he criticized the subsidies as insurance company bailouts. The White House also said Congress had not formally authorized the government to make the payments.
States filed the lawsuit along with the District of Columbia. They said they had started working on ways to protect consumers in anticipation of the administration's decision.
The strategy they chose has "provided some stability to help ensure a functioning insurance market," the court filing said.
Last year, Chhabria rejected the lawsuit's push for him to force the Trump administration to resume paying the subsidies right away.
The states said the administration wants Chhabria to dismiss the lawsuit, not put it on hold.
The states said they want the suit to remain alive in case the administration moves to ban the workaround.
The states joining California in the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
A federal judge in San Francisco has thrown out a lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to cut Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on Wednesday came after California and other states that sued said a workaround was largely succeeding in protecting consumers from higher costs.
The states had asked Chhabria to put the lawsuit on hold, although they also gave him the option of dismissing the lawsuit.
The states said in a court filing on Monday that they allowed insurers to raise premiums on some plans offered on healthcare exchanges. That trigged additional tax credits for many consumers that more than made up for the lost subsidies on copays and deductibles.
The U.S. Justice Department said it had no comment on the states' request.
President Donald Trump announced last October that he was ending government payments intended to reimburse insurers for providing low-income people with discounts on out-of-pocket costs.
He said then that former President Barack Obama's health care law was imploding, and he criticized the subsidies as insurance company bailouts. The White House also said Congress had not formally authorized the government to make the payments.
States filed the lawsuit along with the District of Columbia. They said they had started working on ways to protect consumers in anticipation of the administration's decision.
The strategy they chose has "provided some stability to help ensure a functioning insurance market," the court filing said.
Last year, Chhabria rejected the lawsuit's push for him to force the Trump administration to resume paying the subsidies right away.
The states said the administration wants Chhabria to dismiss the lawsuit, not put it on hold.
The states said they want the suit to remain alive in case the administration moves to ban the workaround.
The states joining California in the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
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