House, Administration Oppose State Intervention In House v. Price; New Developments In ACA Section 1557 Case

On July 10, 2017, the House of Representatives and the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services filed briefs opposing the motion by 18 state attorneys general to intervene in the government’s appeal of House v. Price. In addition, courts have recently rendered new decisions in litigation challenging regulatory protections against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The House brought this lawsuit challenging government reimbursements to insurers for legally required cost sharing reductions (CSRs) for low-income exchange enrollees; the House maintains that the payments are illegal because Congress has not appropriated the money to fund them. The House won below. However, the lower court’s 2016 judgment has been on hold during an appeal filed by the Obama Administration in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, and the appeal itself has been on hold since the fall as the House and the Trump administration have said they are negotiating a settlement. In the meantime, insurance markets are destabilizing across the country. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a press statement on July 10 stating that only 141 insurers had applied for participation in the federal exchange for 2018 in the 39 states it serves. This is down from the 227 initial applicants for 2017 and the 167 insurers that actually offered coverage in 2017. This destabilizat...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage ACA Marketplaces ACA section 1557 cost-sharing reduction payments gender identity house v. price termination of pregnancy Source Type: blogs