Health Law In Jeopardy At Supreme Court Because Of Gridlock In Washington
Congress will not fix technical issues in the law, forcing the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of a part of the law that many say is merely a typo.
The New York Times:
In Partisan Washington, Health Law Faces Grave Legal Technicalities
Today the Affordable Care Act faces grave danger before the United States Supreme Court because ... legislative repair work, once routine, has grown impossible. The challenge in King v. Burwell, the case that the court recently accepted, rests on a part of the law creating taxpayer subsidies for the purchase of health insurance through marketplaces “established by the state.” That phrase, the plaintiffs argue, prohibits subsidies for purchasers using marketplaces established by the federal government for the 37 states that do not have their own. ... A simple technical corrections bill, specifying that consumers using the federal marketplace would receive subsidies as well, would resolve the ambiguity. But his fellow Republicans, [Ron] Haskins says, will not “lift a finger” to fix a law they loathe. (Harwood, 11/23)
USA Today:
Four Words That Could Deep-Six Obamacare
The most serious challenge to President Obama's health care law since it survived the Supreme Court by a single vote in 2012 isn't a balky website, public opinion or the Republican takeover of Congress. It's the Supreme Court — again. In a case likely to be heard in March and decided in June, the justices will dissect the meaning of four words on page 95 of the 906-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — four words that could render health insurance premiums unaffordable for millions of Americans. Here's a look at the issues in King v. Burwell. (Wolf, 11/22)