The GOP Has To Be Ready To Act Quickly After the Supreme Court Rules On ObamaCare

The Supreme Court holds the future of the Affordable Care Act in its hands. Later this month, the court will issue a ruling in King v. Burwell, a case challenging the legality of federal health insurance subsidies in 37 states. A ruling against the ACA could mean the end of the law as we know it.

Senate committee formally begins process to repeal 
Obamacare

The case presents a rare opportunity to reshape our health system for the better — but only if Republicans in Congress act quickly and strategically once a ruling is handed down.

If the court sides with the challengers, the GOP should seize the moment by advancing a comprehensive replacement to ObamaCare. If the ACA emerges unscathed, however, Republicans should pursue an ObamaCare overhaul through the budget process known as reconciliation.

The case against ObamaCare is straightforward. According to ObamaCare's text, the federal government can only subsidize insurance policies purchased "through an Exchange established by the State . .."

CLICK CHART to ENLARGE: This is how the 
Justices have ruled thus far on Obamacare related cases

Most states, however, refused to create their own online marketplaces, choosing instead to use the federally-established HealthCare.gov exchanges. The challengers in King argue that subsidies in those states are, thus, illegal. If the Supreme Court agrees, roughly 8 million people in 37 states will lose their exchange subsidies.

Democrats have portrayed this scenario as a catastrophe that will leave millions of previously insured Americans without coverage. In fact, the effects may be far more muted.

According to a report by Douglas Holz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, about 74% of today's exchange customers had insurance before ObamaCare. Without subsidies, these individuals will most likely buy coverage the way they did pre-ACA.

What's more, a ruling for the plaintiffs would undo ObamaCare's most economically devastating policies. The individual mandate — and its tax penalty for those without insurance — would disappear. The employer mandate would collapse in the 37 affected states — a development that will help create an estimated 237,000 new jobs.

This outcome alone counts as a victory for our health system and our economy. But ObamaCare's opponents in Congress should be far more ambitious — and strategic — in their reaction to the King ruling.

Read the rest of this IBD op-ed HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.