Lawsuits! Lawsuits! Lawsuits!

Yesterday I wrote about the current status of several federal lawsuits against the Trump Administration over the decision to stiff contractors (i.e., health insurance carriers) out of nearly $2 billion in Cost Sharing Reduction reimbursement payments.

This morning I wrote about the current status of the infamous #TexasFoldEm lawsuit brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General and Governors against the ACA, and the impending appeal of Judge O'Connor's ruling in their favor.

But there's more Big Deal ACA litigation in the works as well...and while the Trump Shutdown has brought some of them to a standstill, Harris Meyer of Modern Healthcare reports that others are still churning along:

• Maryland ACA constitutionality case

U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Baltimore denied a Justice Department request to stay a lawsuit brought by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh seeking a declaratory judgment that the ACA is constitutional and that the Trump administration must enforce it. On Wednesday, she received briefings from both sides on whether Maryland has legal standing to bring the suit.

• Association health plans

U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C. has ordered oral arguments to go ahead on Jan. 24 in a lawsuit filed by Democratic attorneys general challenging a Trump administration rule making it easier for small firms and individuals to band together in association health plans free from many Affordable Care Act rules.

• Short-term plans

On Dec. 31, Judge Leon granted the Justice Department's request for a stay in a lawsuit brought by healthcare industry and advocacy groups last September to block the Trump administration's rule expanding the availability of short-term health plans that don't comply with ACA consumer protection rules for the individual market.

• Medicaid work requirement waivers

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington granted the Justice Department's request for a delay on its brief in a case challenging the CMS' approval of Arkansas' Medicaid work requirement waiver.

Nearly 17,000 low-income Arkansas adults were disenrolled from the Medicaid last year due to the new requirements, and thousands more are expected to lose coverage this year.

As a supporter of the ACA and an opponent of short-term plans, association plans and work requirements, I'm obviously hoping that the plaintiffs in all four of these cases ultimately win...but in the meantime, it's lots and lots of billable hours for the attorneys on both sides of the cases, I presume...