US judge throws out suit over health subsidy cuts

SAN FRANCISCO – A U.S. judge in San Francisco has thrown out a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s decision to cut Affordable Care Act subsidies.

The ruling by Judge Vince Chhabria on Wednesday came after California and other states that sued said a workaround was largely succeeding in protecting consumers from higher costs.

The states had asked Chhabria to put the lawsuit on hold, although they also gave him the option of dismissing the lawsuit.

The states said in a court filing on Monday that they allowed insurers to raise premiums on some plans offered on health care exchanges. That trigged additional tax credits for many consumers that more than made up for the lost subsidies on copays and deductibles.