{"id":85473,"date":"2017-10-13T20:30:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T00:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=85473"},"modified":"2017-10-13T19:43:57","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T23:43:57","slug":"schneiderman-announces-multi-state-lawsuit-to-defend-healthcare-subsidies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=85473","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman announces multi-state lawsuit to defend healthcare subsidies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Cutting Off Payments Will Jeopardize Health Care For New York\u2019s Most Vulnerable, Destabilize Healthcare Market,\u00a0And Lead To Rising Insurance Rates For New Yorkers<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

19 Attorneys General File Suit To Protect Affordable Health Care<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Today, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a new multistate lawsuit filed by 19 Attorneys General to defend the health care subsidies on which thousands of New Yorkers and millions of Americans rely.<\/p>\n

Last night, President Trump announced that his administration will cut off the Affordable Care Act\u2019s cost-sharing reduction payments, which reduce co-payments, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income Americans. Under the Affordable Care Act, these payments are made monthly to insurance companies. Cutting off the subsidies would destabilize the healthcare market; New York insurance plans alone would take a hit of millions of dollars in money that had previously been budgeted, and insurance rates will rise for New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese subsidies make critical health care affordable for our most vulnerable,\u201d said\u00a0Attorney General Schneiderman. \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s move to cut these subsidies is a reckless assault on the health care of thousands of New Yorkers and millions of Americans. I will not allow President Trump to use New York families as political pawns in his dangerous and partisan campaign to sabotage our healthcare system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for video of Attorney General Schneiderman\u2019s press conference discussing the lawsuit.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cUnable to move the repeal of the Affordable Care Act in Congress, President Trump is now attempting to administratively dismantle the ACA bit by bit.\u00a0His actions will slash benefits and raise premiums, and it will single handedly destabilize insurance markets.\u00a0\u200eIn New York, we will not stand silently by as the federal government tries to take away health care from New Yorkers. As President Trump executes on his mission to strip health care protection from those who need it most, we are proud to be joining states across the nation to sue the federal government and protect our health care. We will not go backwards,\u201d said\u00a0Governor Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n

The multistate lawsuit\u00a0is being filed this afternoon in the Northern District of California by the Attorneys General\u00a0of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit argues that the federal government is required to make these payments under the law, and failure to do so would be \u201ccontrary to the law\u201d and \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.<\/p>\n

In May, Attorney General Schneiderman and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a coalition of Attorneys General,\u00a0moved to intervene in House v. Price in order to protect millions of Americans\u2019 access to affordable health care<\/a>. The DC Circuit granted their intervention in August.<\/p>\n

The complaint will be posted in the online version of this release at\u00a0ag.ny.gov<\/a>, and sent out to this list, as soon as it\u2019s available.<\/p>\n