Primary Department: County Attorney
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Jonathan Fombonne, County Attorney
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request for approval authorizing Harris County to join amicus brief in Columbus v. Kennedy (4th Cir., No. 25-2012) regarding access to health care.
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Background and Discussion:
The County Attorney requests approval to join an amicus brief being filed by the City of New York and County of Santa Clara in Columbus v. Kennedy (4th Cir., No. 25-2012). The plaintiffs in the case-City of Columbus, the City of Chicago, the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and two organizational plaintiffs-challenge a Rulemaking issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in June that creates significant obstacles to patient enrollment in health insurance through the health exchanges.
Among other things, the rule shortens the open-enrollment period, imposes additional fees, imposes new eligibility verification requirements on individuals seeking to purchase insurance, makes it more difficult for individuals to verify their household income for the purpose of obtaining subsidies, and allows insurers to deny coverage to individuals with past-due premiums. HHS estimates that the rule will result in 750,000 to 2,000,000 patients losing coverage nationwide.
The amicus brief will discuss the strain the Rule will place on safety-net health care providers by drastically increasing the number of uninsured patients, and the resulting harm to community health.
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Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
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Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
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Anticipated Court Date: 2/26/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Andrea Mintzer, Executive Assistant, Office of the County Attorney, Jonathan Fombonne
Attachments (if applicable): N/A