Will the Supreme Court Scuttle Obamacare Subsidies? (No. What Can’t Happen, Won’t. )

Not long ago, I ran across a photo of the Supreme Court captioned: “Maybe this will turn out to be . . .  Obamacare’s death panel?”   The caption refers to the widespread belief that when the Supreme Court rules on the latest challenge to Obamacare (“King vs. Burwell”),  it will strike down most of the government subsidies that have made insurance affordable for so many middle-income and low-income families.  (This lawsuit has been financed by the “Competitive Enterprise Institute,” a libertarian group with long ties to tobacco disinformation campaigns, and more recently, climate change denial. The Koch brothers are among the funders of the institute.) The Supremes are expected to announce their decision in June. If Obamacare’s opponents prevail, the healthcare.gov system will have no choice but to cut off subsidies for as many as 7.5 million Americans in 34 states, including Texas and Florida, probably within a few weeks after the ruling is announced. The Kaiser Family Foundation has put together an eye-opening map revealing where subsidies are safe, and where they are at risk.  The plaintiffs’ argument turns on just five words buried in the 900-page Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a paragraph describing the tax credits that will be available to people buying policies in online marketplaces, known as “exchanges” the law describes them as “exchanges established by the state.” Seizing on that last phrase, the libertarians who mastermi...
Source: Health Beat - Category: American Health Authors: Tags: death spiral done deal exchanges established by the states what can't happen won't 2012 challenge to Obamacare King vs. Burwell subsidies Supreme Court Uncategorized Competitive Enterprise Institute enrolled in Obamacare fall-out H Source Type: blogs