President Obama argued Monday that the Supreme Court case on the legality of Obamacare subsidies is a no-brainer, and said it’s a case the high court probably shouldn’t have been bothered with.
“This should be an easy case,” Obama said when asked about the pending case after the G-7 meeting in Germany. “Frankly, it probably shouldn’t even have been taken up.”
The Supreme Court will soon decide whether people using the federal exchange are allowed to get subsidies. The case evolved from a complaint that the law explicitly says the subsidies, which are now in the billions of dollars each year, are only available to people who buy insurance from exchanges “established by the state.”
Opponents of the law say those words mean anyone on the federal exchange shouldn’t get the subsidies. If the court rules their way, it would mean millions of people in dozens of states wouldn’t be able to collect federal subsidies to buy their insurance. Obama said that would be a disastrous ruling.
“It means that millions of people who are obtaining insurance currently with subsidies suddenly aren’t getting those subsidies, many of them can’t afford it, they pull out, and the assumptions that the insurance companies made when they priced their insurance suddenly gets thrown out the window,” Obama said.
“It’s not something that should be done based on a twisted interpretation of four words in, as we were reminded repeatedly, a couple of thousand page piece of legislation,” he added.
Obama said past court decisions show that judges regularly try to examine the intent of the laws they are assessing, and he said he’s optimistic the court will realize the subsidies were intended for all. He said he hopes the court will “play it straight,” and said he’s assuming his side will win.
“Since we’re going to get a ruling pretty quick, I think it’s important for us to… go ahead and assume that the Supreme Court’s going to do what most legal scholars who have looked at this would expect them to do,” he said.
But if it rules against Obama, “Congress could fix this whole thing with a one sentence provision,” he added. Obama also said of the law, “the thing’s working,” and rejected the idea that the law is somehow failing, as many Republicans have suggested.
“We haven’t heard about the horrors of Obamacare because there aren’t any,” Obama said, embracing the name critics gave the ACA. “None of the predictions about how this wouldn’t work have come to pass,” he added about his overhaul of the health-insurance system.
Obama’s remarks drew a complaint from Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who said the GOP Congress is unlikely to take Obama up on his quick fix. “Instead of bullying the Supreme Court, the President should spend his time preparing for the reality that the court may soon rule against his decision to illegally issue tax penalties and subsidies on Americans in two-thirds of the country,” he said. “Let’s be clear: if the Supreme Court rules against the administration, Congress will not pass a so called ‘one-sentence’ fake fix.”
“Republicans didn’t create the ongoing mess – but we are prepared to help the American people who have been hurt by President Obama’s unlawful actions and his failed law,” he added.
Americans for Prosperity had the same reaction, and said Obama’s comments show the “tone-deafness” of his administration on Obamacare.
“The president appears to remain in denial that his law has caused millions of Americans to see their healthcare plans cancelled, premiums increased, and access to doctors restricted,” AFP Vice President Brent Gardner said. “In poll after poll, the American people have registered their disapproval with Obamacare.”
