NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal judge in Baltimore on Friday paused portions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ planned regulatory changes to the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace just days before they were set to take effect, a court ruling showed.

The ruling was in response to a challenge brought by cities and public health advocates.

U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson sided with the city of Chicago, the mayor and city council of Baltimore and others who said the changes would cost more than two million people losing their health insurance coverage by increasing fees and imposing other barriers.

(Reporting by Diana Jones; editing by Caroline Humer, Editing by Franklin Paul)

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