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The
lawsuit, filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, seeks to
restore more than $1 billion in funding for state health
programs created under the Affordable Care Act, former President
Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, a
statement from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
New York and Minnesota are the only states that operate
so-called Basic Health Programs, a type of health insurance plan
for low-income residents authorized by the law, according to
Schneiderman's statement.
In December, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) told both states it would cut off some of the federal
funding for the programs because Congress had not appropriated
money for them, according to the lawsuit. Schneiderman said the
cut amounted to about 25 percent of the funding for New York's
Basic Health Program.
About 800,000 people in both states are covered by the programs,
according to the lawsuit.
A spokesman for HHS could not immediately be reached for
comment.
(Corrects Basic Health Plan to Basic Health Program in
paragraphs 3 and 4.)
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama, Susan Thomas and Frances Kerry)
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