New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is going to court to fight President Donald Trump’s decision to end subsidies for low-income Americans who get their health care through the Affordable Care Act health exchanges.
Schneiderman said ending the subsidies is an attempt by Trump to “blow up” the nation’s health care system.
“His effort to cut these subsides with no warning or even a plan to contain the fallout is breathtakingly reckless,” Schneiderman said.
The attorney general filed papers in federal court in California as part of a multi-state lawsuit seeking emergency relief from the president’s decision.
New York uses the subsidies differently than many other states. It’s funded a separate health program, called the Essential Plan, for those too poor for Medicaid but not rich enough to afford to pay regular health care premiums. The Greater New York Hospital Association said the action creates an $870 million hole in the program.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a statement, predicted that other New Yorkers who get their health plans through the ACA exchanges would see their premiums rise by 20 percent.
