Judge Dismisses Obamacare Lawsuit Targeting Congressional Health Care
A D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging congressional health care enrollment in the D.C. small business exchange Wednesday, ruling that federal regulations allow members of Congress and their staffs to enroll in the exchange.
In October, the group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of D.C. resident Kirby Vining, alleging that allowing Congress to enroll in the small business exchange violated D.C. law, which stipulates that a small business has 50 or fewer employees. The D.C. government acknowledged Congress is not a small business under D.C. law as part of a motion to the dismiss the case in January. But the D.C. government also argued a 2013 Office of Personnel Management ruling instructing congressional employees to enroll in the exchange trumped D.C. law, and enrollment could continue.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Herbert B. Dixon Jr. sided with the D.C. government, granting the motion to dismiss the case. “The defendant exchange authority’s action in allowing members of Congress and their staff to participate in the District’s small business health options program is authorized by federal regulations,” Dixon wrote in his ruling.
D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority Executive Director Mila Kofman, one of the defendants in the case, said in a statement Thursday that she was pleased Congress could continue to enroll in the small business exchange.
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