By Jason Levitis* and Sabrina Corlette

On August 22, a federal District Court judge in Maryland stayed, on a nationwide basis, the implementation of several provisions in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “Marketplace Integrity” final rule. Some of the stayed provisions are effective immediately, creating the need for immediate implementation decisions by states. 

The plaintiffs in the case, City of Columbus v. Kennedy, sought relief from eight provisions of the final rule. The District Court judge granted an emergency stay of six of the eight provisions, finding that the plaintiffs had shown a “strong likelihood” of success in their claims against those provisions. The federal government now has the option to either appeal or seek an emergency stay of the district court’s ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

In their latest Expert Perspective for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health & Value Strategies program, Jason Levitis and Sabrina Corlette review the court’s ruling and its implications for state-based Marketplaces and insurance regulators. You can read the full post here.

*Jason Levitis is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute.