Supreme Court: Will Its Ruling Gut ObamaCare?

It is perceived by many that the Supreme Court ruling, coming soon, on King v. Burwell could cripple ObamaCare, the Washington Post reports today. The Supreme Court could strike down health care subsidies enjoyed by millions under the Affordable Care Act.

“At issue in the Supreme Court case, King v. Burwell, is whether the law was intended to provide subsidies only for states that set up their own exchanges – as it appears to be written – or whether the subsidies should given to consumers in all states, the majority of which did not set up their own exchanges,” the Washington Post reported on the Supreme Court’s coming ruling on ObamaCare subsidies.

In the state of Georgia, which has not set up its own ObamaCare exchange, 784,000 citizens are receiving the health care subsidies that could be struck down by the Supreme Court, InsuranceNewsNet reports. The plaintiffs in King v. Burwell claim the Affordable Care Act only allows subsidies in states that didn’t create exchanges in their case before the Supreme Court. The Obama administration argued before the Supreme Court that ObamaCare intended for subsidies in those states.

The Washington Post cited a new poll showing that most American want ObamaCare subsidies restored, even if the Supreme Court strikes them down. Political scientists like to say the Supreme Court follows election returns and polls, so it will remain to be seen if polls like this one affect how the Supreme Court rules.

“The poll, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, shows that 64 percent of people say they would want Congress to re-expand the subsidies to all beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act, if the Supreme Court voids some of them,” the Washington Post reported.

Most Americans want the subsidies restored if the Supreme Court strikes them down, and 59 percent in the states with federally run exchanges want their states to set up state-run exchanges if the Supreme Court strikes down those federal subsidies, the Hill reported today.

“This view is held by majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independent voters,” the Hill reported on the poll about ObamaCare subsidies that are in danger from the Supreme Court ruling on King v. Burwell.

King v. Burwell was one of four cases regarding this issue to reach the Supreme Court after rulings in federal appeals courts, the Inquisitr reported last July. In that case reported, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the subsidies in Halbig v. Burwell, one of the cases on the issue that caused it to reach the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruling is likely to happen this summer. The public will demand politicians fix the issue if the Supreme Court strikes down the subsidies.

[Supreme Court image from www.nationaljournal.com]