If Thursday's ruling stands, it would be a significant financial blow for the millions of low-income Americans who benefit from Obamacare's cost-sharing subsidies, which help people pay for health care services. | AP Photo
House GOP wins Obamacare lawsuit
By JENNIFER HABERKORN
05/12/16 12:38 PM EDT
A federal judge on Thursday ruled the Obama administration has been improperly funding an Obamacare subsidy program, a huge win for the House of Representatives’ lawsuit against the White House.
The judge said that the program can continue, pending appeal. The ruling, if it stands, could be a significant financial setback for the millions of low-income Americans who benefit from the cost-sharing subsidies, which help people pay for out-of-pocket costs like co-pays at the doctor’s office. But it would not be a fatal blow to the future of the president’s signature domestic policy achievement.
Congress authorized the program but never actually provided the money for it, wrote U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, a George W. Bush appointee.
"Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one,” she wrote.
The Obama administration is expected to immediately appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The health care law was designed to reimburse insurers for providing the cost-sharing subsidies to low-income customers who purchased exchange coverage.
The House, in a lawsuit derided by Democrats as another politically motivated attack on Obamacare, argues that the program was authorized but never appropriated. The House says that there is proof that the White House knew the cost-sharing subsidies weren’t funded and worked around the legislation to make Obamacare work.
The White House asked Congress to fund the program in its fiscal year 2014 budget request, which was denied. It then unilaterally funded the program through the refundable tax credit account anyway.
When he filed the House v. Burwell lawsuit two years ago, former House Speaker John Boehner framed it as a check on the executive branch’s ability to change legislation once it was approved by Congress.
But the Justice Department says the subsidies were funded appropriately. Its 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.
Part of the Obama administration’s defense is that the health law was not written well – an argument it also made during prior Obamacare legal battles.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/house-gop-wins-obamacare-lawsuit-223121#ixzz48SpcDQT2
