America’s Essential Hospitals – along with the American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Catholic Health Association of the United States, and Federation of American Hospitals – has urged the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse the decision of a three-judge panel of the Circuit Court in the Halbig case and, instead, affirm the District Court’s judgment that premium subsidies be offered nationwide.
The Circuit Court ruled in the Halbig case that premium subsidies offered through the health insurance marketplaces (exchanges) could only be offered through state-facilitated marketplaces. The hospital organizations argued that the subsidies are critical to making insurance affordable under the Affordable Care Act and that Congress intended to make these subsidies available to people nationwide, including those in states not operating their own marketplace.
Oral arguments for the Halbig case are scheduled to begin Dec. 17.
Please contact Xiaoyi Huang, JD, director of policy at xhuang@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127, with questions.
