Federal judge sides with Oklahoma on Obamacare subsidies

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge has sided with Oklahoma in its lawsuit challenging some subsidies offered to people who buy insurance under the health care law.

U.S. District Judge Ronald White is the latest to weigh in on regulations that allow health insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act in all 50 states. Earlier this month, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out a decision that had questioned those subsidies.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt sued in 2011, claiming that the law didn’t explicitly allow subsidies for people who bought insurance in states, like Oklahoma, that didn’t set up their own insurance exchanges. In a ruling Tuesday, White agreed, saying the regulation was “an abuse of discretion.”

White stayed his ruling pending appeal.

ASSOCIATED PRESS