NYC Leads Fight to Protect Affordable Care Act

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant announced that NYC is leading a coalition of local governments in filing an amicus brief against a new federal rule that threatens the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This rule would create significant obstacles to ACA enrollment, leading to millions more uninsured Americans and banning gender-affirming care as an essential health benefit.

<p><strong>The lawsuit, <em>California v. Kennedy et al.</em>, challenges this rule, highlighting its devastating consequences:</strong></p>

• Increased Uninsured: Millions more people will lack health insurance, leading to greater strain on public healthcare systems.
• Ban on Gender-Affirming Care: The rule explicitly removes gender-affirming care as an essential health benefit.
• Financial Strain on Public Hospitals: Public hospitals, already facing staffing shortages and high costs, will be overwhelmed by the influx of uninsured patients.
• Uncompensated Care Costs: The cost of caring for the newly uninsured will fall on already strained local and public health systems, potentially leading to hospital closures.

Mayor Adams stated that access to healthcare is a human right and that this federal rule is a step backward. Corporation Counsel Goode-Trufant called the changes “unlawful and a major step backwards for public health.”

The coalition's brief argues that the rule's impact will be particularly severe on public hospitals and local governments, resulting in increased uncompensated care costs and decreased trust in public healthcare. The brief also points out the fallacy of the federal government's assumption that medical costs simply disappear when individuals lose affordable coverage; instead, these costs shift to public systems.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges that HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy’s actions violate federal laws.

Joining NYC in this fight are Santa Clara County and King County, as well as San Francisco.