
Democratic-Led States Sue Trump Administration Over Association Health Plans
Eleven states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration, alleging it violated the Administrative Procedures Act when it promulgated the rule expanding association health plans.
Eleven states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration, alleging that the Department of Labor (DOL) violated the Administrative Procedures Act when it promulgated the rule expanding association health plans (AHPs).
AHPs, sold by small businesses and self-employed individuals that band together, do not meet the standards set forth by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The administration, which has vowed to undo the ACA, expanded the criteria for forming AHPs and is promoting the plans as a way to afford health insurance, but critics say that the coverage is not as broad and can leave consumers with unexpected medical bills.
The suit, filed Thursday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, is being led by New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, both Democrats. The coalition includes other Attorneys General from other Democratic-led states and DC: California, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington.
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The Attorneys General are urging that the AHP rule be vacated. The
“The Trump administration’s AHP Rule is nothing more than an unlawful end run around the consumer protections enshrined in the Affordable Care Act — part of President Trump’s continued efforts to sabotage our health care system,” said Underwood. “Our lawsuit today seeks to safeguard federal protections under the ACA that help guarantee access to quality, affordable health care.”
The lawsuit argues that Congress has long sought to protect consumers from fraudulent conduct in the health insurance marketplace, with the ACA being the centerpiece of that intent. AHPs allow higher premiums or fewer benefits based on a pre-existing condition, and the lawsuit says the rule “would undo critical federal consumer protections and unduly expand access to AHPs without sufficient justification or consideration of the consequences.”
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