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The Texas lawsuit could end some of the ACA’s protections for employer coverage
The Texas lawsuit could end some of the ACA’s protections for employer coverage.
The Trump administration’s refusal to defend portions of the Affordable Care Act is shocking enough. Equally shocking is how little it seems to care what happens if it gets what it’s asking for.
One question in particular: what about legal protections for the 160 million people who get insurance through their employers? Will their insurance still cover their preexisting conditions, even if they switch jobs? I honestly have no idea.
In its brief, the Justice Department argues that the community rating and guaranteed issue provisions of the ACA must be invalidated. But it never mentions that those provisions apply not only to individual health plans, but also to employer plans.
So should those rules give way across the board? Or only for individual insurance plans?
Maybe it should be the latter. The mandate isn’t critical to securing the health of the employer market, so the ACA rules that protect employees aren’t inextricably linked to the mandate and shouldn’t be invalidated. But it could also plausibly be the former: if the rules governing community rating and guaranteed issue are inseverable, maybe the court shouldn’t do micro-surgery to save some subpart of those rules.
But guess what? In its brief, the Justice Department doesn’t say which approach it endorses.
Actually, it’s worse than that. When the Justice Department identifies the rules governing community rating and guaranteed issue, it doesn’t cite the ACA itself (Public Law 111-948). Instead, it cites parts of the U.S. Code that codify portions of the ACA (e.g., 42 U.S.C. 300gg). The implication is that the Justice Department wants the court to enjoin those code provisions.
But the code provisions were on the books long before the ACA was adopted. Prior to the ACA, they listed protections for employer-sponsored plans that had been adopted in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Among other things, HIPAA limited the circumstances under which an employer could refuse to cover an employee’s preexisting conditions. The protections weren’t perfect, but they were something. The ACA patched HIPAA’s gaps by amending those code provisions.
So if the U.S. Code provisions are enjoined altogether—which, again, is what the Justice Department appears to be asking for—some of the HIPAA-era protections would be wiped from the books too.* Is that really what the Justice Department wants? Because that’s the thrust of its brief.
The confusion may reflect a basic legal mistake, one that Tobias Dorsey highlighted in Some Reflections on Not Reading the Statutes: the U.S. Code is a codification of existing laws, but it’s not itself the law. That’s why code provisions shouldn’t themselves be the target of any injunction. Any injunction should run against the ACA itself. If that’s what the Justice Department really wants, then it has to clarify what it’s really asking for. Failing to do so could wreak havoc in the employer-sponsored market.
Even if the injunction only runs against portions the ACA, however, that still wouldn’t resolve whether the ACA’s protections would still apply to employer-sponsored plans. If they don’t, that’s a big deal: HIPAA’s protections are porous.
So far, however, the Trump administration hasn’t said a word—leaving 160 million people in the lurch.
Federal appeals court says HHS doesn’t have to make ACA risk corridor payments
A federal appeals court ruled the federal government does not have to make risk corridor payments, dealing a blow to insurers that claim they are owed billions in payments under the Affordable Care Act.
In a closely watched case brought by Moda Health Plans, the three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a decision by the Court of Federal Claims, ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services is not obligated to make risk corridor payments to insurers under the ACA.
The payments were built into the ACA as a way to protect insurers from extreme gains or losses on the ACA exchanges in a market that was still untested by insurers.
“Although section 1342 obligated the government to pay participants in the exchanges the full amount indicated by the formula for risk corridor payments, we hold that Congress suspended the government’s obligation in each year of the program through clear intent manifested in appropriations riders,” wrote Chief Judge Sharon Proust in the decision (PDF). “We also hold that the circumstances of this legislation and subsequent regulation did not create a contract promising the full amount of risk corridors payments.”
The court acknowledged the section of the ACA requiring the HHS Secretary to establish risk corridor payments is “unambiguously mandatory,” but said Congress included appropriations riders during each of the program’s three years to ensure risk corridor payments were budget neutral.
The court added that the program “lacks the trappings of contractual agreement,” rebuffing Moda Health’s argument that HHS is required to make payments.
In a statement to FierceHealthcare, Moda Health President and CEO Robert Gootee said the insurer plans to appeal the decision.
“We are disappointed by today’s decision,” he said. “If it is upheld on appeal, it will effectively allow the federal government to walk away from its obligation to provide partial reimbursement for the financial losses Moda incurred when we stepped up to provide coverage to more than 100,000 Oregonians under the ACA. We continue to believe, as our trial court did, that the government’s obligation to us is clearly stated in the law and we will continue to pursue our claim on appeal.”
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Pauline Neman argued that the appropriations riders did not cancel out HHS’s obligation to make risk corridor payments. She said the court’s decision “undermines the reliability of dealings with the government.”
Dozens of insurers have sued the government to reclaim billions in unpaid risk corridor payments. Moda Health claimed it is owed $214 million, while Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina filed for nearly $150 million in unpaid payments and Humana claims its owed $611 million.
Two Lawsuits with Implications for the Coverage of Millions of Americans
Significant legal challenges have marked the history of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since its passage in 2010, and have largely determined the outlines of the law’s current structure. Similarly, as Sara Rosenbaum argues in a brief published this week, the courts have substantially shaped the Medicaid program over its 53-year history. Two recent legal challenges have potentially far-reaching implications for both the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid program, and the millions of Americans who depend on them for their health insurance. While the plaintiffs take different positions regarding the ACA and Medicaid, the cases and the Trump Administration’s responses to them reveal an executive branch that is consistent in its efforts to reduce the federal government’s role in guaranteeing health insurance coverage for Americans.
Stewart v. Azar
Oral arguments in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia begin today in a class action lawsuit brought by 15 Kentucky Medicaid enrollees. The case challenges the legality of several aspects of Kentucky’s 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver, which allows the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and states to test time-limited innovations in Medicaid and other public welfare programs without congressional action. Set to go into effect on July 1, the Kentucky waiver’s most controversial provision is the requirement that Medicaid beneficiaries work or perform community service for at least 80 hours per month to retain coverage. The suit also challenges the authority of HHS, now led by Secretary Alex Azar, to both encourage and approve Medicaid work demonstrations generally and the approval of Kentucky’s demonstration in particular. The suit also challenges the legality of other aspects of the waiver, including the imposition of premiums, the use of six-month lock-out periods for beneficiaries who don’t comply with work requirements or pay their premiums on time, and the elimination of Medicaid’s requirement that new beneficiaries receive three months of retroactive coverage. Three other states have received approval for similar waivers, seven states have applications under review at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and several others are developing them. Because the case challenges both the Kentucky waiver and HHS policy, it has implications for these states, as well as the future of the Medicaid program.
A critical issue highlighted by the case goes to the heart of the entitlement nature of the Medicaid program. Under the Medicaid Act and subsequent amendments, Congress has determined certain groups of people to be eligible for Medicaid coverage by virtue of their age, income, or health needs. These mandatory coverage groups include children, pregnant women, and the elderly, blind and disabled. Because working-age adults with low incomes were the least likely to work in a job that comes with health benefits, the ACA created a new mandatory eligibility category for adults with income less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The Supreme Court decision in 2012 effectively made this optional for states. But once a state elects to cover people who fall into this group, individuals at this income level become a mandatory coverage group. Kentucky expanded eligibility for this group in 2014, and most, but not all, of its waiver provisions apply only to this group. The lawsuit argues that suspending a beneficiary’s coverage for failure to comply with the new waiver requirements would be in violation of their entitlement to coverage under the Medicaid Act. In public speeches, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma, also named as a defendant in the suit, has maintained that Congress’s decision to expand eligibility for Medicaid to “able-bodied” adults was a departure from the historical mission of the program and that states should have the opportunity to alter that through work and other requirements. While the vast majority of adults who have coverage through the ACA’s Medicaid expansion have jobs, work requirements will likely impose significant administrative barriers that could trigger eligibility losses even among those working full time. Estimates of coverage losses range from 95,000 to nearly 300,000 people in Kentucky. Because low-income workers remain the least likely group in the U.S. workforce to have coverage through their jobs, many will likely become uninsured.
Texas v. Azar
Secretary Azar is also the defendant in this case, brought by Texas and 19 other Republican-led states. So-called amici, or friend of the court briefs, are due today and several groups have filed briefs. The suit claims that Congress’s repeal of the individual mandate penalty renders the individual mandate — still part of the ACA — unconstitutional. Because the mandate is essential to the operation of the law, the case argues that the entire law is invalid. In an extraordinary departure from executive branch precedent — and as noted by Tim Jost — Attorney General Jeff Sessions notified Congress last Thursday that the administration agreed with the plaintiffs that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. Because of this, the administration argues that insurers selling policies in the individual market can no longer be banned from denying people coverage or charging higher premiums because of their health, gender, or age. However, the administration maintains that other parts of the law, including the Medicaid expansion, are not affected.
Looking forward
Taken together, these cases underscore the Trump Administration’s ongoing interest in reducing the number of people covered under the Affordable Care Act by withdrawing federal support for the law. Today’s oral arguments in the Stewart case will provide early indications as to how the courts will view the administration’s actions. The insurance coverage of millions of Americans and the future of the Medicaid program are at stake.
Cartoon – Patient didn’t respond to smelling salts
HENRY KOTULA 