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Ohio Cities Sue Trump Administration To Defend Affordable Care Act
By: Michael Lee | WOSU
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The City of Columbus announced on Thursday it’s filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for its treatment of the Affordable Care Act.
Columbus Attorney Zach Klein says the administration is violating the “Administrative Procedures Act” — an act that makes guidelines on how administrative agencies can create rules and regulations — and the Constitution’s “Take Care Clause” — which states the president must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Klein says President Trump verbally admitted he tried to end the health care program, including promising to “let Obamacare implode.” Klein says efforts to curtail Obamacare—like cutting down on advertising and outreach, for example—have led to a decline in enrollment.
“The president is violating federal law,” Klein says. “He’s violating his consitutional duties, and the time for criticism is now over.”
Klein also says the administration’s efforts to end the ACA will inevitably hurt the city of Columbus.
“That has a direct effect on our city budget, it has a direct effect—negatively—on the people in the city of Columbus who appreciate the use of medicaid expansion,” Klein says.
Denise Jacobs is one of the people in Columbus that Klein says received help from the ACA. Jacobs was diagnosed with intersitial lung disease, and after many medical treatments and a lung transplant, she now uses anti-rejection drugs to help with her transplant.
Jacobs says she’s worried about what the end of Obamacare may do to people like her.
“Some people like me may have trouble affording their life supporting drugs,” says Jacobs.
Other cities suing the administration over the Affordable Care Act include Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago and Charlottesville, Virginia. The suit includes a list of President Trump’s tweets in which he indicates his plan to undo the law.