Democratic attorneys general seek to intervene in Obamacare case

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters



Thu May 18, 2017 | 2:18pm EDT

By Dan Levine, Lawrence Hurley and Yasmeen Abutaleb | SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON
More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general on Thursday sought to intervene to defend a key part of the Obamacare healthcare law -- subsidy payments to insurance companies -- which is under threat in a court case.

The 16 attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, filed a motion to intervene in the case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The case, which dates back to the Obama administration, was filed by the Republican-led House of Representatives against the federal government in an effort to cut off subsidy payments to insurers for the individual plans created by the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.

The subsidies payments help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-lawsuits-idUSKCN18E2OH

[Ligyron]

1. Damn, I though that thing was settled in our favor already.

Where did I get that idea?

[Jim Lane]

2. It was temporarily put on hold, hence no immediate threat to the payments.

After the November election, there was the obvious possibility that the incoming administration wouldn't want to continue the payments, in which event the case would be rendered moot. For that reason, the plaintiff (the Republican majority in the House) asked that the case be stayed, presumably to give them time to assess the new legal landscape.

Obviously, however, this was only a temporary reprieve, which might or might not become permanent. I'm guessing that you misremembered the temporary reprieve as being permanent.

[mpcamb]

3. A side point- But I think we should keep calling it Obamacare. Trumpcare frightens, and

we should use that to describe the Republican replacement.