Court allows states to join Obama-initiated appeal of ruling against funding low income insurers

____President Barack Obama requested that Congress explicitly authorize the spending required to reimburse insurers with low-income customers, but Congress denied him. The Obama administration paid out the money anyway.

This prompted House Republicans, led by then-Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), to sue Obama, arguing that he repaid insurers unlawfully. A federal judge last year ruled in the House GOP’s favor, but allowed the government to continue paying insurers while Obama’s appeal was underway.

That appeal carried over into Trump’s presidency, making his administration the defendant in a lawsuit filed by his own party ― and giving him the power to unilaterally end the payments to insurance companies and send the exchanges into a tailspin.

The Trump administration and House Republicans sought and received several delays from the appeals court this year, arguing in part that the repeal and “replace” effort on Capitol Hill ― now stalled ― could make the case irrelevant.

But at any time, Trump could drop the appeal or simply order the Treasury to end the payments.

In its ruling Tuesday, the court agreed state officials had standing to join the appeal. Further court proceedings will remain on hold, the appellate judges ruled...