Whether the Supreme Court overturns or upholds Obamacare’s health insurance subsidies that are being distributed in federal exchanges, Congress needs to devise a fix. The Wall Street Journal explains:
In return, Republicans can offer to restore the subsidies for Mr. Obama—albeit smaller and in the form of a fixed-dollar tax deduction or credit for people who don’t benefit from the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance. This could become a pilot program for a larger reform after the President leaves office. Such a deal would inevitably move health care to the center of the 2016 primaries and election. Both parties would be forced to have an instructive debate about their visions for a post-ObamaCare world.
Maybe Mr. Obama would refuse to compromise under pressure from the left and the talks would fail, in which case the result is no different than doing nothing. But the GOP would show its governing priorities and that there really is a pragmatic alternative beyond the “repeal” slogan.
The other virtue of building a policy consensus now is that it may make the Supreme Court more comfortable with vindicating the letter of the law’s plain language. The Justices are usually above raw political intimidation, but they are also generally reluctant to create real-world problems. They may be more likely to overturn the federal-exchange subsidies if they’re confident that the political branches have a fallback.
See full article here.
