Latest news with #DoctorsforAmerica
The Hill
02-07-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Mayors sue over Trump administration rules restricting ObamaCare enrollment
A coalition of U.S. city mayors is suing the Trump administration over a recently finalized rule that limits enrollment in Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans. In June, the Trump administration finalized the 'Marketplace Integrity and Affordability' rule, which shortens the open enrollment period for ACA plans to Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Customers normally have until Jan. 15 to enroll. The rule also increases the maximum annual cost-sharing limitation and enacts stricter income verifications. The changes take effect beginning in 2027. The cities of Chicago, Columbus and Baltimore have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, challenging the rule. They are joined by the advocacy groups Doctors for America and Main Street Alliance. The group is being represented in the case by the legal organization Democracy Forward. In their suit, they claim that the physicians who are part of Doctors for America will be harmed by this rule as more of their patients will become uninsured, and they will receive less than full reimbursement for patients without coverage. They are alleging the rule is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. 'Defendants failed to provide adequate reasons for, and failed to adequately respond to comments about, the following provisions, such that they are arbitrary and capricious under the APA, and Defendants failed to observe required procedure in adopting these provisions,' the lawsuit states. The plaintiffs are asking that the rule be found in violation and the law be blocked from being implemented. 'This unlawful rule will force families off their health insurance and raise costs on millions of Americans. This does nothing to help people – and instead harms Americans' health and safety across our country,' Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward president and CEO said in a statement.
Axios
02-07-2025
- Health
- Axios
Cities sue Trump administration over ACA changes
The cities of Baltimore, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday asked a federal court to overturn new regulations from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that place tighter restrictions on Affordable Care Act enrollment. Why it matters: Shortening the enrollment period and other changes would increase the uninsured and underinsured population and place more financial pressure on city-funded public health programs, the cities argue in their complaint. They also argue that the loss of health insurance will make city residents less able to participate in civic life and have "cascading negative effects on city programs and communities." The Main Street Alliance — a small business advocacy group — and Doctors for America are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for Maryland. State of play: Health and Human Services' regulation shortens the enrollment window for ACA plans on the federal insurance exchange and imposes a $5 monthly premium for consumers with fully subsidized coverage who are automatically reenrolled in ACA coverage, among other changes. HHS projects the policies will decrease ACA exchange plan enrollment by between 725,000 and 1.8 million people. The finalized rule "sets forth a wide range of changes that will render coverage on the Exchanges less affordable, less generous, and harder to obtain," the complaint reads. The complaint states that the Trump administration violated administrative law in finalizing the rule. But HHS maintains that its rule strengthens access to health insurance. "The rule closes loopholes, strengthens oversight, and ensures taxpayer subsidies go to those who are truly eligible — that's not controversial, it's common sense," HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said in an email. The agency has said the rule is necessary to improve program integrity in ACA markets and that it should lower enrollee premiums by 5% next year.
Boston Globe
01-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Mayors, doctor groups sue over Trump's efforts to restrict Obamacare enrollment
Advertisement The mayors of Baltimore, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio sued the federal health department on Tuesday over the rules, saying they will result in more uninsured residents and overburden city services. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Cloaked in the pretense of government efficiency and fraud prevention, the 2025 Rule creates numerous barriers to affordable insurance coverage, negating the purpose of the ACA to extend affordable health coverage to all Americans, and instead increasing the population of underinsured and uninsured Americans,' the filing alleges. Two liberal advocacy groups — Doctors for America and Main Street Alliance — joined in on the complaint. The federal health department announced a series of changes late last month to the ACA. It will shorten the enrollment period for the federal marketplace by a month, limiting it to Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 in 2026. Income verification checks will become more stringent and a $5 fee will be tacked on for some people who automatically re-enroll in a free plan. Advertisement Insurers will also be able to deny coverage to people who have not paid their premiums on past plans. The rules also bar roughly 100,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from signing up for the coverage. HHS said in a statement that the polices 'are temporary measures to immediately tamp down on improper enrollments and the improper flow of federal funds.' The mayors — all Democrats — argue that the polices were introduced without an adequate public comment period on the policies. 'This unlawful rule will force families off their health insurance and raise costs on millions of Americans. This does nothing to help people and instead harms Americans' health and safety across our country,' said Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward, which is representing the coalition of plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not challenge the Trump administration's restriction on immigrants signing up for the coverage. The Biden administration saw gains in Obamacare enrollment as a major success of the Democratic president's term, noting that a record 24 million people signed up for the coverage, thanks to generous tax breaks offered through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But the program has been a target of Trump, who has said it is riddled with problems that make the coverage unaffordable for many without large subsidies. Enrollment in the program dipped during his first term in office.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
National medical org asks to join Tennessee lawsuit to advocate for abortion access
Doctors for America is trying to join a Tennessee lawsuit to ensure women can get abortions when their lives or health depend on the procedure. The organization is a national collection of more than 30,000 medical professionals that advocates for policies that expand access to affordable health care. Doctors for America on May 30 asked to intervene in a lawsuit brought by a different health care group, the Catholic Medical Association, which opposes abortion access. Catholic Medical Association sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 10 looking to overturn a 2022 directive that federal law requires hospitals provide abortions if doing so is necessary to stabilize a medical crisis. 'Doctors should not be forced to choose between following the law and saving a patient's life,' Dr. Christine Petrin, president of Doctors for America, said in a news release. Doctors for America is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, the National Women's Law Center and Democracy Forward. Doctors for America explained in its May 30 filing it is intervening now because of the change in presidential administrations. "DFA cannot rely on the federal government to adequately defend (its) interests," the court filing states. More: What are abortion laws in Tennessee and where is the procedure legal? The law at question here is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a 1986 federal law often referred to as EMTALA. The law ensures the public can access emergency health care even if they cannot pay. In the wake of the overturning of Roe V. Wade in 2022, during President Joe Biden's administration, HHS issued guidance that EMTALA requires that emergency rooms that accept Medicaid provide abortions when they are medically necessary, even if doing so violates a state law prohibiting abortion. That guidance was challenged in court and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the justices declined to give a ruling on it. It seems likely the current iteration of the HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will reverse the previous administration's position. In a filing in this lawsuit in April, it wrote, "New leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services is actively considering how best to respond to the Complaint ... including to evaluate whether it may be possible to resolve this case without litigation" — meaning the Catholic Medical Association may get what it wants through a policy change. The Catholic Medical Association has argued that the 2022 guidance ensuring access to medically necessary abortion care runs afoul of the Supreme Court precedent set in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled there is not a constitutional right to abortion. The Catholic organization said it is urging the court to "allow doctors to perform their life-giving duties without fear of government officials forcing them to violate their beliefs.' More: Federal judge temporarily blocks part of TN's abortion travel ban on free speech grounds While most, if not all, state laws allow for abortions to be performed in very limited circumstances, Carrie Flaxman, senior legal advisor at Democracy Forward, said revoking EMTALA's guidance on abortion will "sow confusion for providers." 'Pregnant people have suffered needlessly, and some have died, because of the chaos and confusion that abortion bans have caused for patients and their doctors,' Flaxman said. Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Medical org asks to join TN lawsuit to advocate for abortion access
Axios
05-03-2025
- Health
- Axios
Judge orders federal health websites restored
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore scores of health agency webpages and datasets that went dark to comply with executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion and gender identity. The big picture: District Court Judge John Bates granted a request from Doctors for America for a temporary restraining order, saying the physicians' group showed "substantial likelihood of success" on its claims that Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously in removing the webpages. The group said the removed content helps guide practitioners, is essential to public health research and is key to preventing disease outbreaks. Catch up quick: Thousands of webpages containing federal health guidelines and data went dark late last month. Some soon reappeared without clarity on what had been changed or removed — and with disclaimers noting that the pages could be further modified. Among the affected sites was CDC's website for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which hosts vaccine recommendations for kids and adults. Websites tracking issues including HIV prevention and transgender care were also taken down. The CDC said that all changes to HHS websites were in accordance with executive orders calling for an end to federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and declaring the government will only recognize two sexes, male and female.
