The AAMC Oct. 31 and other associations submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in House v. Burwell. The case, brought by the U.S. House of Representatives, raises the question of whether Congress is required to appropriate funding under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for insurance companies to reduce co-payments and deductibles, and to cap total out-of-pocket costs for certain individuals.
The brief lays out the reasons that the lower court decision in favor of the House should be overturned. It argues that when Congress passed the ACA it was well aware that these subsidies were essential as providing insurance to a patient is not enough if the patient cannot meet the cost-sharing requirements. As the brief states, without federal reimbursement of cost-sharing subsidies, “lower- and middle-income patients will find it harder to pay their medical bills, leaving hospitals with greater uncompensated-care burdens, and therefore with fewer resources available for free care, financial assistance, fee-reduction programs, and other benefits to make and keep their communities healthy.”