MONTPELIER, Vt. - Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a lawsuit challenging an unlawful final rule promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would create significant barriers to obtaining healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Trump Administration's final rule would make amendments to rules governing federal and state health insurance marketplaces which the administration estimates will cause up to 1.8 million people to lose their health insurance, while causing millions more to pay increased insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs like copays and deductibles. The final rule also excludes coverage of gender-affirming care as an essential health benefit (EHB) under the ACA.

In the lawsuit, the coalition of attorneys general argue that the HHS and CMS rule is arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The coalition is also seeking preliminary relief, and a stay, to prevent the challenged portions of the final rule from taking effect in the Plaintiff States before the August 25 effective date.

"We should be doing everything we can to make health care more accessible in this country - not harder and more expensive for millions of Americans," said Attorney General Clark. "The Trump Administration cannot violate the law, and we will fight attempts to roll back coverage for Vermonters, including any attempt to take away coverage for gender-affirming care under the ACA."

Congress enacted the ACA in 2010 to increase the number of Americans with health insurance and decrease the cost of healthcare. Fifteen years later, the ACA continues to meet its goals, with annual enrollment on the ACA marketplace doubling over the past five years, resulting in over 24 million people signing up for health insurance coverage in plan year 2025. Now, with less than four months until open enrollment for plan year 2026 begins, the Trump Administration's final rule would abruptly reverse that trend, erecting a series of new barriers to enrollment that will deprive up to 1.8 million people of insurance coverage by the Administration's own estimates.

The final rule by HHS would make substantial changes and bureaucratic barriers to the operation of the ACA marketplaces, including adding new verification requirements, imposing an automatic monthly charge on all automatically reenrolled consumers who qualify for $0 premiums, shortening the open enrollment period for signing up for health coverage, and making other changes which will make coverage less affordable for millions of individuals nationwide. The final rule would also exclude gender-affirming care as an EHB on federal exchange plans, leaving states responsible for paying for the portion of insurance premiums attributable to any such coverage. In the lawsuit the attorneys general argue that the HHS and CMS rule is unlawful, arbitrary and capricious, and would cause significant harm to the states and their residents.

Attorney General Clark is joined in today's lawsuit but the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.

A copy of the complaint is linked. The motion for preliminary injunction, which is expected to be filed later today, will be made available at here.

Today's lawsuit is the twenty-fourth case overall that Attorney General Clark has brought against the Trump Administration since President Trump took office in January. For more information on actions taken by the Attorney General on behalf of Vermonters, visit our website at ago.vermont.gov/ago-actions.

Contact: Lauren Jandl, Chief of Staff, 802-828-3171