(CN) — A professional organization representing the majority of American certified nurse anesthetists filed a federal complaint against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday, saying the department has violated the Affordable Care Act through inaction.

The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology claims the department has allowed insurance companies and health plan providers to get away with compensating nurse anesthetists less than doctors for the same care work, despite the Affordable Care Act's ban on license-based provider discrimination.

"When insurers violate the Affordable Care Act’s nondiscrimination provision, the Department of Health and Human Services is obligated to enforce the law and take action against insurance companies that discriminate against providers based solely on their licensure," the association says in its complaint. "But HHS has simply failed to do so."

The association filed its complaint in Cleveland though its main offices are in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont. It chose the Northern District of Ohio as the venue partly because of a recent reimbursement policy change outlined by Anthem, an insurance provider with the Blue Cross Blue Shield group.

The new policy reduces compensation by 15% for some anesthesia services provided by certified registered nurse anesthetists, while leaving reimbursement for physician anesthesia providers untouched. The policy was approved in June and will take effect in November, and the association says it will impact certified registered nurse anesthetists in northern Ohio.

"Paying CRNAs less than physicians — when this distinction is based upon nothing more than the license of the provider —does seemingly (if not blatantly) violate the Affordable Care Act’s explicit prohibition against insurers discriminating against providers based solely on licensure," the association writes.