Democratic Attorneys General Seek Role In ACA Subsidy Case: ‘Lives Are At Stake’
The subsidies that are paid to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act have been a threatened negotiation tool by President Donald Trump and have long been targeted by congressional Republicans. But not paying them would wreak havoc on the marketplaces, insurers and Democrats say.
Reuters:
Democratic Attorneys General Seek To Intervene In Obamacare Case
More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general on Thursday sought to intervene to defend a key part of the Obamacare healthcare law - subsidy payments to insurance companies - which is under threat in a court case. The 16 attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, filed a motion to intervene in the case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (Levin, Hurley and Abutaleb, 5/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Attorneys General Seek To Preserve Affordable Care Act Subsidies
The group, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, filed a motion to intervene in a House Republican lawsuit over the payments. GOP lawmakers have asserted that the payments to insurers are illegal because Congress never appropriated the funding. ... “Millions of families across the country—including hundreds of thousands right here in New York—rely on these subsidies for their basic health care,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement about the motion, which was filed in the pending case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. (Armour, 5/18)
KPCC:
State Attorney General Wants To Defend Obamacare Cost-Sharing Subsidies
"We're going to do everything we can to make sure that regardless of what the administration in Washington D.C. does, and regardless of what members in Congress try to do to the Affordable Care Act, we're going to stand up for our health care," Becerra said. (Plevin, 5/18)
Sacramento Bee:
California Takes Legal Action To Prevent Obamacare Cuts
House Republicans contend that the federal payments are illegal because they were not authorized by Congress when the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. A federal district judge last year agreed, and the Obama administration appealed. With Trump in the White House, Obamacare advocates fear his administration could simply drop the appeal and end the subsidies – especially if efforts to overhaul the law fail in Congress. If California and other states are granted access to the lawsuit, they would be in position to oppose that maneuver. (Hart, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times:
California And 14 Other States Take Legal Action To Preserve Obamacare Cost-Sharing
The states that filed the lawsuit are California, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C. (Karlamangla, 5/18)