Associated Press July 18, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A workaround by states to counter
Trump administration cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies has largely
succeeded in protecting consumers from higher costs, California and 17 other
states said.
The assessment came late Monday in a court filing asking
U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria to put a lawsuit involving the cuts on hold.
The filing says states have mostly protected subsidized
consumers by allowing insurers to raise premiums on some plans offered on
health care exchanges.
The increases triggered additional tax credits for users
who qualify for subsidies on copays and deductibles, it states.
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 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.
Attorneys for the administration did not immediately
respond to an email seeking comment on the filing.
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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