California's attorney general filed a lawsuit Friday against the Trump administration over President Donald Trump's decision to stop paying insurers federal subsidies that help some consumers afford their health care.
Trump has been threatening for months to end the so-called cost sharing subsidies, which totaled about $7 billion this year. The payments, made by the federal government, help reimburse insurance companies for discounts on co-payment and deductibles that they have to give to low-income customers by law under the Affordable Care Act.
Withdrawing the payments could put insurance companies in some states in the red, pushing them to exit the Obamacare marketplaces.
"This is patently a decision that is reckless," state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. "It is sabotage plain and simple."
The President is constitutionally required to execute the laws of the United States in good faith, Becerra argued, including the Affordable Care Act. Moves that could undermine the health insurance markets, he reasoned, are unconstitutional.