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As the country awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of federal health insurance subsidies to millions of Americans, President Obama praised the impact of the Affordable Care Act and called attempts to roll back the law “cynical.”
“We need more governors and state legislators to expand Medicaid, which was a central part of the architecture of the overall plan,” the president said, addressing the Catholic Health Association’s annual meeting in Washington. “It’s not perfect, but it’s serving so many people so much better, and we’re not going to go backwards.”
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The Supreme Court is expected to rule sometime in June on King v. Burwell, a controversial case that affects health care coverage for millions of Americans who are receiving subsidies to purchase insurance through the federally run ACA marketplace.
President Obama’s remarks came on the heels of similar signs he is frustrated with the Supreme Court for its handling of the King v. Burwell case. “This should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldn’t even have been taken up,” he told reporters after the G-7 Summit in Krun, Germany.
If the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiff in this case, federally funded health insurance subsidies paid to beneficiaries in states that did not establish their own insurance marketplaces would become unconstitutional, leaving as many as 7.5 million people without subsidies, according to an estimate from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The White House has not announced a contingency plan if King wins. While there are some plans circulating in Congress to maintain subsidies, the GOP majority has not coalesced around a specific option.
“Instead of bullying the Supreme Court, the president should spend his time preparing for the reality that the court may soon rule against his decision to illegally issue tax penalties and subsidies on Americans in two-thirds of the country,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: If the Supreme Court rules against the administration, Congress will not pass a so called ‘one-sentence’ fake fix.”
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