In a collective pushback against the Trump administration's latest attempt to chip away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with a pack of 21 attorneys general, took a stand to protect what many consider a lifeline for countless Americans. They fired off a pointed letter condemning a suite of proposed rule changes that threaten to make healthcare access more complex and costly for individuals on the federal and state exchanges, notably aiming to exclude DACA recipients from buying insurance through these channels. According to the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Raoul voiced his concern, asserting, "These proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act are unnecessary and disturbing," and fretting about the repercussions that could leave hundreds of thousands without coverage.
The contentious tug-of-war over healthcare rights took a drastic turn in 2024 when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, coupled with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, unfurled a Final Rule to broaden patient admittance to ACA exchanges, a move that recognized DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, as eligible participants for affordable health insurance, but fast forward to the present, the Trump administration is hustling to dismantle this progress, putting the healthcare stability for these individuals in limbo even during the vital spans of active coverage reliance.
Not stopping at DACA issues, the sweeping changes proposed by the current administration involve curtailing the ACA exchange enrollment periods nationally – a shift from the flexible state-determined timelines – and crafting rules that could let insurers coldly deny coverage over past due premiums from any moment in a subscriber's payment history. Raoul, alongside the attorneys general, punctuated the potential pitfalls of not mandating insurance companies to notify customers of changes, “meaning consumers could be denied coverage without being aware that their denial is because they owe a past-due premium,” as stated by the Illinois Attorney General's Office.
Moreover, the proposed rule seeks to erase coverage for gender-affirming care as an essential health benefit this move has been met with criticism given that a large swath of employer-based health plans, about 72% of Fortune 500 companies in 2024, were on board with such benefits, the Trump administration's argument lacks substantial backing from any concrete research or statistics casting a shadow over the legitimacy of their claims. A broad coalition, joined by AG Raoul, has gathered from every corner including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, as per the Illinois Attorney General's Office.
