A federal judge has denied a request from 20 Democratic attorneys general to delay the implementation of a significant overhaul to the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) exchanges.
The Trump administration finalized a rule in June that it says will address a "surge of improper" enrollments on the insurance marketplaces. The agency argues that millions of people may have been signed up for coverage potentially without their knowledge, with data from right-wing think tank Paragon Health Institute projecting as many as 5 million improper enrollments.
Under the rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will shorten the open enrollment window for ACA plans and institute new income verifications for premium subsidies and eligibility checks for people securing coverage during special enrollment periods.
The attorneys general filed suit to challenge the regulation in mid-July, arguing that it would make it unfairly difficult for individuals to secure insurance.
But Massachusetts District Judge Nathaniel Gorton denied their request for a preliminary injunction Wednesday, saying the attorneys general did not have standing to press for an injunction as they were not likely to incur costs directly as a result of the regulation.
In addition, he threw cold water on the argument that the rule could cause 1.8 million individuals to lose coverage, as that was at the high end of projections, and the losses would largely not be felt in the states that pursued litigation.
"Finally, to the extent plaintiffs rely upon alleged health related harms that may befall uninsured individuals in support of their motion for injunctive relief, such reliance is misplaced," Gorton wrote in the order. "When assessing irreparable harm for the purposes of a preliminary injunction, the only relevant harms are those which affect the parties directly."
As the plaintiff attorneys general were not able to prove that "irreparable harm" would be felt, they did not have standing to secure an injunction, Gorton ruled.
Most of the key provisions of the rule went into effect in August, and open enrollment on the exchanges opens Nov. 1.