Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said a federal judge’s granting of an order stopping President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a set of new rules that would affect health care coverage for millions is a “positive step.”
In an Aug. 22 ruling, U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson, who presides in the Maryland district, granted a request for an injunction that stops the new rules from going into effect. The rules had been scheduled to be implemented Aug. 25.
Columbus and several other cities sued the Trump administration in July over a rule that would increase patients’ premiums and out-of-pocket costs, as well as institute hidden charges in certain types of health care plans obtained through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The rules were proposed in June by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.
Klein’s office previously said the proposed rules would cut tax credits that help families shopping in the ACA Marketplace. The cuts are expected to impact about 2.2 million Americans.
“Today’s decision is a positive step to block the Trump-Vance administration’s bad deal that intentionally jacks up costs and guts health care coverage for millions of working people and families,” Klein said in a prepared release.
Baltimore, Chicago and several doctors’ organizations are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Hurson’s ruling does not allow the administration to implement any of the rules while the lawsuit is ongoing.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@gannett.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Federal judge halts implementation of health insurance changes in lawsuit Columbus filed
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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