A coalition of U.S. states, Reuters reports, are lining up to sue and block President Donald Trump’s move to scrap a key component of Obamacare: subsidies to health insurers that help low-income Americans pay out-of-pocket medical expenses.
One day after the administration announced plans to end the payments, Trump says he will dismantle Obamacare “step by step,” even as his latest action is raising concerns about insurance market chaos.
The administration will not make the next payment to insurers, scheduled for Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions says. The subsidies cost $7 billion this year and are estimated at $10 billion for 2018, according to congressional analysts.
The Democratic attorneys general of New York and California are joining forces with several other states, including Kentucky, Massachusetts and Connecticut, to file a lawsuit in federal court in California. The states will ask the court to force Trump to make the next payment, says Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat.
