Fifteen states plan to sue the White House to stop President Donald Trump from halting cost-sharing reduction payments to health insurers.
On Thursday evening, Trump announced his decision to end key subsidies that lower out-of-pocket medical costs for low-income Americans under the Affordable Care Act. The reaction was swift: Attorneys general from a slew of states including California, New York, and Oregon, as well as Washington, D.C., signed onto a lawsuit to be filed Friday.
“This is patently a decision that is reckless,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told the Los Angeles Times in a conference call. “It is sabotage plain and simple, and President Trump’s price hikes to Americans’ health insurance are hiding in plain sight.”
The federal subsidy for deductibles and co-pays helps millions of Americans afford insurance coverage. State officials warn that halting these payments would destabilize the insurance market and undermine the Obama-era law.
Trump’s health-care order comes two weeks before the start of open enrollment.
