Pennsylvania to join suit over health subsidies

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says he's joining his counterparts in at least a dozen states to sue the Trump administration over its decision to stop paying cost-sharing subsidies to insurers.

Shapiro on Friday said premiums for the more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians who buy individual insurance plans will skyrocket without the cost-sharing subsidies.

He says Trump is in clear violation of his legal responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Attorneys general in states such as California, Connecticut, Kentucky and New York are among those announcing they will file a federal lawsuit against the move.

But Trump has defended the decision, saying that the subsidies are "almost a payoff" to insurance companies to lift their stock prices instead of helping low-income people afford their premiums.