Yes and no.
The US Government via Obamacare WAS on the hook to subsidize losses by the insurance companies due to being on the exchanges up til 2018.
But the losses were far, far worse than expected that it was even affecting their core businesses that weren’t covered by the law. So Obama diverted funds and bribed... er... supported the industries because he decided that was the “intent” of the law.
The court said no it wasn’t.
The money has to be appropriated by Congress. It was not.
Two years ago, House Republicans sued Obama under then-Speaker John Boehner and claimed the president had violated the law by delaying enforcement of several provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
But lawyers later focused on the reimbursements for health insurers that had received little attention before. They said these payments would come to $175 billion over a decade.
The healthcare law says insurers who enroll eligible, low-income Americans shall cover the costs of their deductibles and co-payments, but promises the federal government “shall make periodic and timely payments” to cover those costs.
The law is not entirely clear on where this money will come from, however.
At first, the administration asked Congress for an appropriation to cover these costs.
But when that request went nowhere in Congress, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services said they could continue to pay these required reimbursements.
They said payments were like “other appropriate entitlements like Medicaid” that are covered by permanent federal funds and not subject to an annual appropriation.
Judge Collyer called that claim a “most curious and convoluted argument whose mother was undoubtedly necessity.”
Collyer, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said she would block “any further reimbursements…until a valid appropriation is in place,” but then put her order on hold while the administration appeals.
Trump dropped the appeal.