On Friday, July 20, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon in Washington, D.C. ruled that the expansion of short-term health plans by the Trump administration caused “minimal” difficulty and found that their “benefits are undeniable.” The expansion permits short-term health insurance plans that generally are less costly than those provided under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but are less comprehensive.

On January 18, 2019, 38 hospitals filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a final rule of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which went into effect on January 1, 2019.

On the evening of Friday, December 14, 2018, U.S. Federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas held, “The Court…declares the Individual Mandate (of the ACA) … unconstitutional”. In addition, the judge stated in his opinion, “Further, the Court declares the remaining provisions of the ACA…are inseverable and therefore invalid”.