Attorney General Ellison sues to block latest Trump Administration effort to undermine Affordable Care Act, drive up Americans’ health insurance costs

Joins coalition of 21 states in suing over new federal rule that reinstates provisions another federal court blocked, adds new harmful changes related to catastrophic health plans that will drive up consumers’ out-of-pocket costs and make insurance harder to get

HHS estimates 2M Americans will lose coverage under the rule in 2027, 5M by 2030

July 31, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today joined a coalition of 21 states in suing to block a Trump Administration rule that once again illegally undermines the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and would make health insurance more expensive and harder to obtain for millions of Americans. HHS estimates the new rule will cause two million people to lose coverage in 2027 alone and a total of five million by 2030.

“Today’s yet another day I’m fighting the Trump Administration’s nonstop efforts to make Minnesotans poorer and sicker,” Attorney General Ellison said. “They will stop at nothing to enrich billionaires and take from the rest of us, including our health. The cruelty really is the point. Once again, I’m suing to stop them.”

The lawsuit seeks to block provisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2027 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters, a federal rule that sets standards for health plans offered in 2027 that Attorney General Ellison and the coalition already publicly opposed in March 2026. Among other harmful changes, the rule expands eligibility for catastrophic health insurance plans that are ineligible for premium tax credits, offer only limited coverage, and can leave consumers facing significantly higher out-of-pocket costs than standard ACA plans. The rule also allows catastrophic and bronze plans to exceed ACA limits on maximum annual out-of-pocket costs, increasing the financial burden on consumers, and attempts to reinstate several provisions that a federal court recently found to be unlawful.

In the lawsuit, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition argue these and other provisions illegally undermine the ACA’s goal of expanding access to affordable healthcare by increasing costs, reducing enrollment, and shifting financial burdens onto consumers, states, and healthcare providers. Specifically, they argue that the new rule:

• Reimposes provisions that another federal court has already vacated — including additional income verification requirements and penalties for consumers who do not complete tax-credit paperwork — without addressing the court’s legal concerns;
• Unlawfully expands eligibility for catastrophic health plans beyond the limits established by Congress in the ACA;
• Unlawfully allows catastrophic and bronze plans to exceed ACA limits on maximum annual out-of-pocket costs;
• Will increase costs, reduce enrollment, and shift financial burdens onto consumers, healthcare providers, and states; and
• Was adopted without adequate explanation or a meaningful response to the coalition’s comments, making it arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Congress enacted the ACA to expand access to affordable health insurance, and more than 23 million Americans currently receive coverage through its marketplaces, including approximately 125,000 Minnesotans.

Today’s lawsuit follows the July 2025 lawsuit that Attorney General Ellison and the coalition filed to challenge the Trump Administration’s similar 2025 ACA Marketplace rule. Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts held a hearing on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment in that case, with a final decision expected at a later date.

In a related lawsuit brought by a coalition of local governments, a federal court in Maryland last month vacated several provisions of the Administration’s 2025 rule — including provisions at issue in this case — after finding that they violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The Administration’s new rule setting standards for 2027 health plans, which is the subject of this lawsuit, brings back many of the same provisions and adds new changes that further undermine the ACA.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in filing today’s lawsuit are California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who led the coalition, and the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.