A federal court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its unlawful sabotage of the Affordable Care Act.

The cities of Columbus, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Philadelphia — as well as residents of Charlottesville, Virginia — sued the Trump administration to challenge policies that eliminate protections guaranteed by the ACA, increase premiums, and drive up the uninsured rate. In Friday’s ruling, the Court explained that the Plaintiffs “sufficiently allege[d] that Defendants’ actions … caused their asserted harms.”

In its decision, the Court ruled that the case could proceed on the Plaintiffs’ challenge to the Trump administration’s 2019 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (the “2019 Rule”), a rule that governs how health insurance exchanges operate. Multiple provisions of the 2019 Rule serve to weaken ACA exchanges, drive up premiums, and force out health insurers — ultimately increasing the rate of the underinsured and uninsured.

The suit was filed in August 2018 and amended in January 2019. In June 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives, 20 states, 13 municipalities, four advocacy groups, and health insurance experts all filed briefs supporting our lawsuit and opposing the government’s efforts to dismiss the case.