Tomorrow (Monday) might be the big day when the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling on King v. Burwell.
The fate of up to 7.5 million Americans who have received premium assistance through their states’ federally-run marketplaces to make their health insurance plans affordable is in the balance.
The issue as you all should know by now is those four words in the Affordable Care Act that appear to indicate that only people in states that run their own marketplaces are eligible for the federal subsidies. Those four words, “established by the state”, have been dismissed by everyone who had any role in writing and passing the giant bill as “inadvertent, “inartful” and “a drafting error”. There has been no credible evidence that the intent of the bill was for federal assistance to be granted to only qualifying citizens in states with state-run marketplaces.
Yet here we are waiting for a decision on a case that most experts say should have never made it to the Supreme Court. That is a testament to how the anti-Obamacare industry has been able to demonize the successful law and get traction for every legal challenge no matter how preposterous.
Fortunately no legal challenge has been successful in derailing the Affordable Care Act to date. My prediction has long been that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the Administration in King v. Burwell. This week we will probably find out.
But just in case I’m wrong, what plan does South Carolina, which opted for the federal government to run its marketplace, have to protect its citizens who will surely walk away from their health insurance if they lose their subsidies?
I haven’t heard of any ideas from our governor, Nikki Haley. Is she just going to say “tough luck” to the over 100,000 South Carolinians who would probably become uninsured if the Supreme Court makes the wrong ruling? She certainly is going to blame the situation on President Obama saying that the Act was poorly designed and thus she has been correct in calling for its repeal.
But even if she is able to take a victory lap for her partisan rhetoric, that won’t help the South Carolinians who will be harmed and the insurance companies serving the state that know it will surely be the beginning of the collapse of our health insurance market in the Palmetto state and across the country.
But maybe Governor Haley will get lucky and won’t have to actually try to solve the problem if my prediction comes to be.