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The Justice Department won’t defend the Affordable Care Act and is asking a federal court to strike down key elements of the law, a new blow to the health law and the stability of the individual insurance market.
The department, in a brief it filed Thursday in a lawsuit brought by 20 state attorneys general, asks the court to halt ACA protections that Republicans in Congress sought to preserve when they attempted to repeal the health law.
The provisions targeted by the Justice Department include the bans on insurers denying coverage to people and on charging higher rates to people with pre-existing health conditions.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a letter to congressional leaders, said the department won’t defend the constitutionality of the ACA and the decision was made with the approval of President Donald Trump. It is unusual for the Justice Department not to back a federal law.
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