A coalition of state attorneys general that has already sued the Trump administration a dozen times is laying the groundwork for another action rebutting proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.

Led by the Attorneys General for California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, the group sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, the longtime heart surgeon and TV personality, asking him to withdraw most of the proposals in a new rule that would dramatically change the healthcare program that insured 20.8 million people last year.

What You Need To Know

  • A coalition of attorneys ceneral that has already sued the Trump administration a dozen times is laying the groundwork for another action rebutting proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act

  • The group sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz asking him to withdraw most of the proposals in a new rule that would dramatically change the healthcare program that insured 20.8 million people last year

  • The rulemaking proposed about a dozen revisions to existing ACA provisions, requiring new enrollees to pay past-due premiums before getting coverage, excluding so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children from eligibility and removing many subsidies that make ACA plans more affordable for low-income customers, among others

  • In their letters, the attorneys general said the proposal would shift healthcare costs to state governments and private hospitals as more patients become uninsured, forcing them to enroll more people in state Medicaid programs and cover emergency medical treatment for DACA recipients

“The Proposed Rule creates new hurdles that will significantly restrict eligibility, diminish enrollment and increase consumers’ health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs,” according to the letter signed by 22 attorneys general. “This outcome will undermine the purpose of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is to increase access to high quality and affordable healthcare.”

Almost 50 million Americans have been covered by ACA insurance marketplaces since 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department reported last year. Over the past 11 years, one in seven Americans has taken advantage of the program since it was enacted in 2010, allowing people to buy affordable health insurance that isn’t available to them through their work or government-subsidized programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Published in the Federal Register in March, the proposed rule to change the ACA stems from the memorandum “Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisis” that President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office. The memo tasked the administration’s executive departments and agencies with devising plans to fulfill its mandate, including proposed regulatory actions affecting ACA eligibility and enrollment to help reduce waste, fraud and abuse. 

The rulemaking proposed about a dozen revisions to existing ACA provisions, requiring new enrollees to pay past-due premiums before getting coverage, excluding so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children from eligibility and removing many subsidies that make ACA plans more affordable for low-income customers, among others. 

In their letter, the attorneys general said the proposal would shift healthcare costs to state governments and private hospitals as more patients become uninsured, forcing them to enroll more people in state Medicaid programs and cover emergency medical treatment for DACA recipients.

The damage won’t be limited to individuals who lose their health coverage, they said. Consumers enrolled in ACA marketplaces will face higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs 

The coalition that sent the letter includes the Attorneys General for Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the request from the Attorneys General to withdraw many of the provisions in the agency’s proposed rule.