COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) \u2014 Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein on Friday announced a new lawsuit against the Trump administration over a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that he says would increase patient costs, raise premiums and deny coverage to 2 million Americans who get health insurance through Affordable Care Act exchanges.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit is the third Klein and the city of Columbus have led against the Trump administration over efforts “to undermine access to quality, affordable healthcare for working people,” his office said in a news release, and the 10th lawsuit filed by Klein against Trump during the president\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump-Vance administration is once again trying to sabotage the Affordable Care Act by jacking up premiums and denying coverage to millions of Americans,” Klein said in the statement. “This is the third time President Trump has tried to roll back healthcare access for American workers, and the third time we\u2019ve challenged his radical attacks. We intend to prevail in court a third time as well.”<\/p>\n
The Affordable Care Act went into effect in 2010 under then-President Obama, giving millions of Americans access to affordable, comprehensive healthcare through insurance exchanges, and prohibits denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n
Klein previously led efforts to challenge Trump administration actions affecting the ACA during Trump’s first term. The District Court for Maryland sided with Columbus and other plaintiffs, throwing out new Trump rules. And last year, Columbus sued again after the second Trump administration issued new rules aimed at increasing the cost of coverage and removing people from insurance rolls, and the court again rejected that effort.<\/p>\n
This new lawsuit argues that many provisions in the Trump-Vance administration\u2019s new rules mimic rules already thrown out by the courts and remain in conflict with federal law.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery American deserves quality, affordable healthcare. Rolling back that access is un-American, and we must all rally behind protecting healthcare access and controlling costs instead of erecting barriers that undermine quality, increase premiums and make it harder to get insurance,\u201d Klein said in the statement.<\/p>\n
Trump has called on Congress to enact his Great Healthcare Plan, which, according to WhiteHouse.gov<\/a>, would “lower drug prices, lower insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency.”<\/p>\n