Dive Brief:
- A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Obama administration improperly used funds to pay for an ACA subsidy program.
- The administration is expected to appeal the ruling to the D.C. Court of Appeals, Politico noted.
- Pending appeal, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer will allow the subsidy program to continue at this time.
Dive Insight:
Collyer ruled in September the U.S. House of Representatives had legal standing to sue the current presidential administration over “allegedly improper implementation” of the ACA.
The allegations stated the Obama administration is inappropriately spending funds Congress never earmarked for the ACA’s cost-sharing provisions.
The GOP-controlled House did not have standing to sue on a separate allegation the administration had no right to delay the ACA’s employer mandate.
Congress authorized the reduced cost-sharing but never actually appropriated the money for it, wrote Collyer. "Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one,” she wrote.
The Justice Department's lawyers "told the court that the program was funded in the same pot of money as the law’s refundable tax credits to help people pay for premiums," Politico reported.
10/ Even if the Supreme Court eventually ruled against the administration, it wouldn’t be a mortal blow to the ACA.
— Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) May 12, 2016
12/ We’d have some serious market problems, with skyrocketing premiums and a concomitant spike in premium subsidies.
— Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) May 12, 2016
13/ But House v. Burwell is not an existential threat to the ACA. Everybody stay calm.
— Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) May 12, 2016