Sixteen Democratic attorneys general on Thursday filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an attempt to preserve insurance subsidy payments under the ACA, according to Reuters.
The Republican-led House of Representatives brought the case in 2014 to eliminate subsidy payments to health insurers that cover a portion of out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans. House Republicans prevailed in court in 2016, and the Obama administration filed an appeal in the case but the court did not rule on the issues before President Donald Trump took office.
The attorneys general said their decision to intervene in the case was due, in part, to President Donald Trump's vow to let the ACA "explode." President Trump has threatened to withhold the subsidy payments to insurers, and the attorneys general argue that is part of the reason some consumers have seen double-digit increases in their insurance premiums, according to Reuters.
"The states and their residents cannot continue to rely on the executive branch to represent them in this appeal," states the attorneys general motion. They hope to intervene in the case and directly defend the law.
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