Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring led a multi-state inititiative on Monday that is trying to ensure that low- to moderate-income U.S. citizens receive promised tax credits when purchasing federally mandated insurance plans.
Eighteen states filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as part of the Halbig v. Burwell case, in which the plaintiffs are calling for the end of the tax credit provided in the Affordable Care Act.
The tax credit currently provides 177,000 Virginia residents $3,048 in federal assistance funds annually and will allow credits to as many as 495,000 future customers in the commonwealth.
"No matter how you feel about the Affordable Care Act, its discounts make it possible for hundreds of thousands of Virginians to purchase their own private health insurance-and we can't let a lawsuit from outside the state disrupt our right to those subsidies," Herring said. "We're talking about reducing monthly premiums from $758 to $280 for a family of four with an income of $50,000. That's the difference between affordable health care and no health care for many families."
Other states involved in the multi-state brief include: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.
The court will begin hearing arguments in the Halbig v. Burwell case on Dec. 17.