Aug 03, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined 12 states in filing suit against the U.S. Department of Labor’s rule allowing employers nationwide to group together as Association Health Plans (AHPs). In June, the Department of Labor issued a final rule to expand AHPs. The rule uses the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to push a large number of small employers and individuals into the large group market, leaving them without ACA protections, such as those for people with pre-existing conditions.
Becerra says the rule will encourage healthy consumers to leave the traditional health insurance market, driving up the price of comprehensive coverage drastically. Becerra warns that the rule would also destabilize insurance markets. “This is yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to sabotage the Affordable Care Act,” he added. Attorneys general from New York and Massachusetts are co-leading the lawsuit along with California, Washington D.C., Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington.
