In an effort to preemptively denounce a Supreme Court ruling against ObamaCare, on Monday, the Associated Press warned of “ugly potential fallout” if health insurance subsidies in the law were struck down.
The article began by fretting: “A Supreme Court ruling due in a few weeks could wipe out health insurance for millions of people covered by President Barack Obama's health care law.” Writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar then described the political fallout: “But it's Republicans – not White House officials – who have been talking about damage control.”
He added: “A likely reason: Twenty-six of the 34 states that would be most affected by the ruling have Republican governors, and 22 of the 24 GOP Senate seats up in 2016 are in those states.”
To sum up the AP’s spin: An unpopular law passed by Democrats being undone by the Supreme Court would do the most damage to Republicans.
Alonso-Zaldivar explained: “In the court case, opponents of the law argue that its literal wording allows the federal government to subsidize coverage only in states that set up their own health insurance markets.” He then lamented: “Most states have not done so, because of the intense partisanship over ‘Obamacare’ and in some cases because of technical problems.”
The item continued: “If the court invalidates the subsidies in those states, an estimated 8 million people could lose coverage. The results would be ‘ugly,’ said Sandy Praeger, a former Kansas insurance commissioner....Praeger, a Republican who retired this year, called it ‘a classic death spiral’...”
Wrapping up the piece, Alonso-Zaldivar predicted: “If the subsidies are overturned, Republicans will first try blaming Obama and the Democrats for writing flawed legislation and then trying to paper over problems with regulations. Then they'll move ahead with a patch to appease angry constituents.”
If ObamaCare falls apart because of the sloppy way it was written, Obama and the Democrats will, in fact, be to blame.
