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Donald Trump won't be sworn in as president for another month, but one of the first salvos in a forthcoming legal war against his administration was launched Tuesday as people who get subsidies under Obamacare asked to intervene in a lawsuit that threatens to shut down funding key to the health insurance program. (Gerstein, 12/20)

A group of ObamaCare enrollees on Tuesday filed a motion in federal court seeking to protect payments under the health law that Republicans say are illegal. The ObamaCare enrollees filed a motion in the case, known as House v. Burwell, seeking to become parties to the case and be represented to defend the legality of the ObamaCare payments, known as “cost-sharing reductions.” The consumers argue that they should be allowed to become parties to the case because once the President-elect Donald Trump enters office, the interests of ObamaCare defenders will no longer be represented. (Sullivan, 12/20)

Two people who got insurance through the 2010 health care law made a bid Tuesday to resuscitate a legal fight between House Republicans and the Obama administration that could jeopardize their coverage. Gustavo Parker and La Trina Patton asked the federal appeals court in Washington to allow them to intervene in the lawsuit, saying they want to defend the continued payment of subsidies that go to approximately 5.9 million people in their situation. (Rudger, 12/20)

Spooked by Trump's rhetoric and pledge to repeal Obamacare, several dozen independent researchers are racing to download key health care data and documents before Jan. 20. They say they began the effort on their own, and then got a boost from Jeanne Lambrew, the White House's top health reform official, who also sounded alarms the new administration might expunge reams of information from public websites and end access to data, researchers told POLITICO. (Diamond, 12/21)

Analysts with the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday they would not count people with minimal insurance as being covered under an alternative to the Affordable Care Act. The CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation anticipate that under some ACA replacement proposals — which don’t clearly specify what type of coverage could be purchased with federal tax credits — insurers may start offering non-group plans that would not meet their expectations for adequate coverage, according to the blog post published Tuesday. (McIntire, 12/20)

In the immediate aftermath of the election, concerns about access to birth control have spiked. For many women, there’s a fear that the incoming Trump administration will repeal the Affordable Care Act, and with it, access to free contraception. (Desjardins, 12/20)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to enroll 50,000 people in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act by the end of next year, a move officials said would save the city’s cash-strapped hospital system $40 million a year. President-elect Donald Trump and Republican leaders have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  Mr. de Blasio, a supporter of universal health care, said he believes growing enrollment will make that more difficult. (Gay, 12/20)

Tennessee, even without Medicaid expansion, saw a 4 percent decrease in uninsured people from 2010 to now, according to a variety of sources, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, WalletHub and the Urban Institute. The biggest decrease came between 2013 and 2016, said LeeAnn Luna, author of the UT report. In addition to 268,000 people buying insurance on the exchange, some people realized they were eligible for TennCare and enrolled. An improved economy led to others landing jobs with insurance, Luna said (Fletcher, 12/20)

Healthcare.gov and its state marketplaces approved health care coverage and subsidies for nine fake applicants in another Government Accountability Office sting, according to a report from the agency. (Meyer, 12/20)

For the fourth straight year, City Hall is opening city recreation centers so health insurance navigators can meet with people interested in signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act before the Jan. 31 deadline. This time, however, it's happening as President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans make plans to repeal the law. (Danielson, 12/21)