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Md. sues federal government to enforce Affordable Care Act
//September 13, 2018
Maryland has asked a federal judge to declare the Affordable Care Act constitutional and enforceable.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, comes after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in June he would not defend the ACA against a lawsuit brought by 20 states, led by Texas, alleging the law is unconstitutional.
A federal judge in Texas heard oral arguments last week on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction halting the law but did not immediately issue a ruling.
“We cannot allow President (Donald) Trump and Attorney General Sessions to destroy the ACA,” Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said in a statement announcing the state’s lawsuit. “Their attempts to sabotage this life-saving law and jeopardize the health of Marylanders who rely on it cannot stand. We are taking action to protect and ensure health care coverage for every Marylander and all Americans.”
Since the ACA’s adoption, more than 100,000 Maryland residents have obtained private health coverage and more than a million are covered by Medicaid, the lawsuit states, while uncompensated costs have dropped more than $300 million.
In fiscal 2017, Maryland received nearly $3 billion in federal funds for health coverage, the lawsuit states.
“Elimination of these funds would cause immediate and severe curtailment of essential public health activities and would restrict the ability of Maryland to provide a more efficient healthcare insurance market to its residents,” the lawsuit states.
The case is State of Maryland v. United States of America, et al.
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