New York Attorney General Letitia James and Attorney General William Tong of Connecticut joined with 18 other attorneys general and Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s new regulations that threaten to strip millions of Americans of their health insurance.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. It named as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his official capacity as secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Mehmet Oz in his official capacity as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
In June, HHS and CMS finalized sweeping changes to Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) eligibility and enrollment. Set to take effect in August, the Trump Administration estimates the changes would immediately strip health insurance coverage from up to two million people. It shortens open enrollment windows, eliminates year-round enrollment for low-income individuals, adds extensive paperwork and verification requirements, and makes it harder to access health care tax credits. The Trump Administration’s changes also limit automatic reenrollment and imposes what the lawsuit says are illegal monthly charges on consumers who qualify for zero-dollar premium plans.
The lawsuit argues that the changes directly undermine the ACA’s core mission of expanding access to affordable health care. It also argues that what the administration did also unlawfully prohibits states from including gender-affirming care in the ACA’s list of essential health benefits.
The lawsuit alleges that in addition to immediately striping some Americans of their health care insurance, it would force others to pay higher deductibles and higher copays.
Tong said, “Inflated premiums, more copays and deductibles, new junk fees and red tape. These rules are designed to jack up health care costs for American families and cause upwards of 1.8 million people to lose their health insurance entirely. And why? So that Trump and his cronies can have more money to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. These rules were rushed through with no legal process or planning, in violation of numerous laws.”
James pointed out, “In New York, we have expanded coverage, improved affordability, and protected New Yorkers’ health. The federal government should take every opportunity to learn from that success, not actively work to reverse it.”
In the lawsuit the attorneys general argue that the HHS and CMS rule change is unlawful, arbitrary and capricious, and would cause significant harm to states and their residents.
In addition to James and Tong, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as Gov. Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
