Baltimore among cities suing Trump administration over campaign to tear down Affordable Care Act (Baltimore Fishbowl)

Thursday Aug 2nd, 2018

Baltimore is again suing the White House over its health care policies, this time due to the president’s alleged undermining of the Affordable Care Act.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland this morning, accuses the Trump administration of violating a constitutional clause to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” through the president’s very vocal push to repeal the eight-year-old Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, most of which took effect in 2014. The law mandated sweeping health insurance reforms in an attempt to expand coverage to millions of Americans, though many Republicans have opposed it, arguing it disrupts the existing private insurance scheme and is unaffordable for many Americans.

“By intentionally sabotaging the ACA, the Trump Administration is directly increasing the number of uninsured and underinsured Baltimoreans,” Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said in a statement. “This will increase demand for our services, without additional resources.”

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When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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