Judge refuses to force Trump admin to pay Obamacare subsidies – reports Judge Chhabria sided with Trump RT - October 25, 2017
A US judge will not block the Trump administration’s decision to halt Obamacare subsidy payments to insurance companies, according to reports.
On Wednesday, US District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco rejected a request set forth by 18 states to immediately force the federal government to resume paying health care subsidies, the Associated Press reported.
The subsidies reimbursed insurers for reducing out-of-pocket costs to low-income consumers who acquired coverage under former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, formally titled the Affordable Care Act.
Judge Chhabria sided with Trump, saying the government does not have to make payments while litigation concerning the subsidies unfolds, according to Reuters.
President Donald Trump earlier this month declared the subsidies, which had been successfully challenged in lower courts, unlawful. He also called on Congress to appropriate funding for the payments.
The 18 states said Trump was illegally trying to destroy Obamacare by eliminating the government’s payments, and they warn his move will lead to higher costs for taxpayers and consumers.
A bipartisan effort in the Senate to extend the blocked federal payments to health insurers failed last week.