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Ohio Attorney General Threatens To Sue Over Obamacare

Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine (Photo Courtesy of AG Office).
Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine (Photo Courtesy of AG Office).

The state of Ohio provides health insurance to 85,000 workers and their dependents. Under the ACA, the state pays a fee of $63 per enrollee, which comes to a total of $5.3 million dollars.

Attorney General Spokesman Dan Tierney says, "this is money that could be used for other purposes within state government, it could be used for education, it could be used for safety it could be used for improving roads and bridges."

The fee is part of the ACA'stransitional Reinsurance Program, which pays for a fund intended to stabilize premiums in the individual exchange market.

Insurance companies and those large employers who directly pay for their own worker's coverage are hit with the charge.

HHS spokesperson Ben Wakana said in a statement on Friday that ACA "put in place the risk adjustment, risk corridor, and reinsurance programs to help keep premiums affordable from year to year."

Wakana said premiums remained affordable from 2014 to 2015. In addition, HHS Secretary Burwell noted during a recent visit to Cleveland that 80 percent of Marketplace enrollees as of December 2014 could obtain coverage for $100 or less after tax credits in 2015.

DeWine's letter to HHS says the fee should not apply to state and local governments.

The fee is scheduled to sunset in 2016.