Stephanie Armour’s article in today’s Wall Street Journal highlights the potential implications King v Burwell will have on North Carolina, a state that said ‘no’ to both Medicaid expansion and a state-based health insurance exchange. The article features business owners who are hoping for the Supreme Court to strike down federal exchange subsidies, as this would free them from being subject to the costly employer mandate. On the other hand, individuals who currently benefit from discounted health plans at the taxpayer’s expense could end up being exposed to the full cost of government approved health care plans.
At present, the government still has no contingency plan should the justices rule in June that the IRS has been illegally distributing tax credits to federal exchange policyholders since 2014.
“If the Supreme Court strikes down the subsidies, then in North Carolina, because it’s a federal exchange, that will do away with the ACA,” said Bob Rucho, a Republican state senator. “There are a lot of Republican options out there that haven’t really been heard. For the first time, we’ll get to hear the options.”
See here for the full article, and read about some of the Obamacare alternatives here, here, and here.
