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DeWine Threatens Lawsuit Over ACA Fee

Republican Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sent a letter late last week to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Syliva Burwell saying he may file a lawsuit because a fee imposed by the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Sarah Jane Tribble of member station WCPN in Cleveland explains.

The state of Ohio provides health insurance to 85,000 workers and their dependents. Under the A-C-A the state pays a fee of $63 per enrollee and THAT comes to $5.3 million dollars.  
 
A-G Spokesman Dan Tierney: “So this is money that could be used for other purposes within state government, it could be used for education, it could be used for safety it could be used for improving roads and bridges.”  
 
The fee is part of the ACA’s transitional Reinsurance Program. It pays for a fund intended to stabilize premiums in the individual exchange market.  
 
Insurance companies and those large employers who directly pay for their own worker’s coverage are hit with the charge.  
 
DeWine’s letter to HHS says the fee should not apply to state and local governments.  
 
The fee is scheduled to sunset in 2016.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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