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Court stay keeps ACA eligibility rule from taking effect for now
The stay blocks provisions tied to marketplace subsidy eligibility and income verification, but health and welfare lawyer Lisa Campbell said additional rulemaking is still expected.
A federal court decision has temporarily halted most provisions of the Trump administration's Affordable Care Act eligibility and income verification rule, a development that benefits brokers by making it easier for individuals to navigate coverage in the near term, according to Insurance Business America.
Groom Law Group health and welfare practice leader Lisa Campbell said the blocked rule would have forced some consumers to take extra steps to prove eligibility for marketplace premium tax credits, including cases where income could not be verified through government databases and would have led to cuts in subsidies without additional documentation.
Campbell added that even without the rule going into effect, premium pressures remain possible, noting that healthcare costs are rising and employers are concerned about increases they are seeing.
She also said the impact of the two related lawsuits, referred to by legal observers as Columbus II and Columbus I, makes it harder to predict whether the Department of Health and Human Services will appeal or pursue alternative regulatory approaches aimed at program integrity, with further rulemaking still on the horizon covering topics such as nondiscrimination and disclosure requirements.