Pima Supes agree to let Conover sue over Trump’s changes to Obamacare

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to join other jurisdictions and organizations in a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s proposed changes in enforcement of the Affordable Care Act.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover asked the board for permission to take part in a legal challenge. The supervisors approved the move 4-0 after a special Monday meeting to discuss the matter. The board’s lone Republican, Steve Christy, was absent.

There are two other lawsuits challenging the changes to what is colloquially known as “Obamacare.” The Congressional Budget Office determined those changes would likely strip health insurance from 1.8 million people in the U.S.

Conover is poised to join a third lawsuit – yet to be filed – but did not provide specifics as to what the county would challenge. She did say Pima will be the first county to join a lawsuit over the ACA changes.

“This is several large cities and a couple of organizations that advocate for doctors,” Conover said in a text message to the Sentinel, adding she will “let those details speak for themselves when the pleading is filed, which is coming super-fast in the coming days.”

Last spring, the Trump administration made a series of proposed changes to how people prove they qualify for health insurance on the Obamacare marketplace. It also made changes to the services that must be provided. Both suits claimed the administration failed to follow the proper process for making the changes.

Congress passes laws but the executive branch decides how they are enforced. The government must follow the Administrative Procedures Act in altering how it carries out laws. Whether this what the county is suing over remains unclear.

Conover told the Tucson Sentinel after the supervisors’ Monday vote that the suit has a personal dimension as she experienced how health care delayed can seem like health care denied.

“Just the day before this opportunity to sue was communicated to us, a very close friend and colleague was struck with a medical emergency that was made 100 times more dangerous due to a clerical lapse in his health care coverage,” Conover said in a text message. “Delayed care can be a death sentence.”