Release date:
6/5/2017
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today moved to join a lawsuit to protect healthcare access for thousands of North Carolinians. The lawsuit, House v. Price, seeks to eliminate stable funding, also called cost-sharing reduction payments, the Affordable Care Act created to protect millions of working families from high healthcare costs. Attorney General Stein is seeking to intervene to protect those payments.
“I will not allow political games to get in the way of North Carolinians’ access to affordable healthcare,” said Attorney General Stein. “People all across our state are struggling to make ends meet at the same time they need life-saving healthcare treatment. I will do all I can to protect their access to the healthcare they need to live happy, healthy lives.”
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average premiums would need to increase by about 19 percent to compensate for cost-sharing reduction payments being discontinued.
Background:
The House of Representatives sued the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration. A district court ruled in favor of the House of Representatives, but the ruling was appealed to protect access to healthcare, and the funding was permitted to continue pending appeal. After the 2016 Presidential election, the House of Representatives requested that the case be held in suspension to allow President Trump time to decide how to approach the case. Given the President’s public statements about the Affordable Care Act, state attorneys general are intervening in the case to ensure an appropriate legal defense for the healthcare system.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484