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Federal appeals court stalls CSR lawsuit settlement

Modern Healthcare: The litigation challenging the Affordable Care Act's cost-sharing reduction payments for insurers has hit another stumble, this time in the courts.

Three judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit have delayed consideration of a settlement ending the CSR litigation. The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives, executive branch and 19 Democratic state attorneys generals reached the agreement in December, which would allow the state attorneys general to continue a separate lawsuit against the Trump administration in California federal court over the subsidies without House Republicans' involvement.

But the judges have asked the parties to explain the "exceptional circumstances" cited when the House essentially bowed out of the original lawsuit Republican leadership filed to block the Obama administration from making the CSR payments.

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