![\"Attorney](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-Feb-16-2024-5-57-52-PM-1-scaled.jpg\" "\\"New")
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Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a Friday evening press conference following the ruling against Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the federal government Thursday over cuts to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).\n<\/p>\n
The suit, brought by James and a coalition of 20 other states, argues a new rule changing how states operate the ACA marketplace, where individuals purchase healthcare plans, would create significant barriers to healthcare access. The change could strip coverage from two million people by shortening enrollment windows, limiting automatic reenrollment and adding burdensome verification requirements, according to a press release from James\u2019 office.<\/p>\n
Filed in Massachusetts federal court, the suit asks for an injunctive against the rule based on the significant public health consequences.\n<\/p>\n
James said in a statement that the new rule will disproportionately impact low-income and working-class people, whom the ACA is designed to help.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new rule is an illegal and dangerous attack on health care access,\u201d James said. \u201cIt strips working families of their health care coverage, imposes unnecessary red tape and deliberately targets low-income and transgender Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rule change, set to go into effect in August, would increase the cost of premiums, co-pays and deductibles. It would also eliminate coverage for gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n
The government argued<\/a> the changes were necessary to eliminate \u201cwaste, fraud and abuse.\u201d The Trump administration estimated the program would save between $10.3 billion and $12.4 billion in 2026, recognizing that nearly two million people could lose coverage.<\/p>\n The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has operated through state-level marketplaces since it was signed into law in 2010. States could require additional coverage to the federal minimum, as New York has done.<\/p>\n The federal government\u2019s new rule would require all exchanges to implement these programs, regardless of the state\u2019s success rate.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Since New York implemented the ACA marketplace, the state\u2019s uninsured rate dropped from 11% to 4.8%. Over 220,000 New Yorkers get health insurance through the marketplace, 12,000 of whom will lose coverage under the new rule, according to James\u2019 office.<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes just two weeks after President Donald Trump\u2019s signature domestic policy bill passed Congress<\/a>, which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and independent policy organizations said could cut health insurance<\/a> for 1.5 million New Yorkers.<\/p>\n Democrats in New York and across the country have made cuts to Medicare and Medicaid an important part of their campaign against both Trump and local Republicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMedicaid is literally the lifeline for one in three New Yorkers,\u201d Hochul said at a Thursday press briefing. \u201cCutting this essential healthcare doesn\u2019t keep people from getting sick, it doesn\u2019t stop babies from being born. It\u2019s simply saying, \u2018You\u2019re on your own.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Hochul also criticized New York\u2019s seven congressional Republicans for voting for Trump\u2019s bill, saying they will be held responsible in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s really cynical about what they just did is that they postponed some of the pain until later, hoping that New Yorkers will have amnesia when it comes to election time next year, and forget what they\u2019ve unleashed on their own districts,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cI won\u2019t let them forget. They will not get away with this.\u201d<\/p>\n