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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania, filed an amicus brief in City of Columbus v. Kennedy, a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in support of a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland blocking key provisions of an unlawful final rule proposed by the Trump administration in March 2025 and issued in June 2025. The rule would make it harder for consumers to enroll in and maintain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), increase healthcare costs, and leave more people uninsured.
“Behind every enrollment barrier and cost hike Trump’s attack on the Affordable Care Act creates is a family deciding whether they can afford to see a doctor,” said Attorney General Brown. “My Office joined this brief because Maryland families deserve affordable healthcare, not more obstacles.”
In the brief, Attorney General Brown and the coalition explain that allowing the rule to take effect would:
- Impose significant compliance costs on states;
- Reduce funding for state health insurance exchanges as fewer people enroll in coverage –states collect a fee for each plan sold through these exchanges;
- Drive up uncompensated care costs as the uninsured population grows; and
- Cause immediate and substantial harms that would extend beyond the parties in the case to affect states across the country.
The plaintiffs in City of Columbus v. Kennedy secured a major victory in June 2026, when the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled in their favor and blocked key provisions of the rule. Maryland secured a separate major victory in August 2026, when the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck down a provision that would have excluded certain types of gender-affirming care from qualifying as essential health benefits under the ACA.
Joining Attorney General Brown in the brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.
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