HHS and CMS appealed a Maryland federal court’s decision to vacate parts of CMS’ 2025 “Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule,” according to July court filings.
In the Columbus I case — which has the city governments of Columbus (Ohio), Baltimore and Chicago, as well as other groups, as plaintiffs — the Maryland district court ruled on summary judgment in June 2026 to vacate most of the rule’s challenged provisions, including a $5 premium penalty on automatic re-enrollees, a past-due-premium coverage policy, special enrollment period eligibility verification requirements, the failure-to-reconcile policy, income verification policies, de minimis actuarial value range changes, a shortened open enrollment period leading up to the 2027 coverage year and the revocation of a 60-day extension to resolve income inconsistencies.
Judge Brendan Hurson had previously paused portions of the rule in August 2025. Shortly after the June 2026 ruling, the appellate court dismissed an appeal from that previous August. As part of the August appeals process, the government had originally filed an emergency stay motion regarding the rule’s actuarial value provision but was unsuccessful.
Now, the case is back before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. On July 22, the government filed a motion to expedite the appeal, with a decision from the court requested by Dec. 31 “to avoid potential mootness.” Several of the rule’s elements — such as the failure-to-reconcile component — had been designed to sunset at the end of 2026.
The case is part of a wave of litigation pushing back against the Trump administration’s attempt to overhaul the ACA marketplace. A similar lineup of plaintiffs filed another lawsuit, sometimes referred to as Columbus II, in June 2026 that focuses on the ACA rule for 2027, which contains some aligned provisions. Mr. Hurson is also overseeing that case and blocked several provisions earlier in July.
Becker’s contacted CMS and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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