Can’t we all just get along?
Two federal appeals court panels issued conflicting rulings Tuesday on whether the government could subsidize health insurance premiums for people in three dozen states that use the federal insurance exchange. The decisions are the latest in a series of legal challenges to central components of President Obama’s health care law.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, upheld the subsidies, saying that a rule issued by the Internal Revenue Service was “a permissible exercise of the agency’s discretion.”
The ruling came within hours of a 2-to-1 ruling by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which said that the government could not subsidize insurance for people in states that use the federal exchange.
The administration will ask for an en banc ruling from the court that ruled 2-1 against Obamacare. That means the whole court — including the three judges who ruled today — will hear the case and overturn the first ruling. For now, let the Republicans have their little moment of joy because it won’t last.
This ruling could also have political implications for Republican governors and legislators in states without the healthcare exchanges. TPM reader HW explains:
…will they build a state health insurance exchange or allow the taxes of a large number of their citizens to go up (remember these are tax credits their middle class citizens are losing, not Medicaid benefits their poorest citizens are not getting in the first place). If you are Rick Scott (FL), Scott Walker (WI), John Kasich (OH), Rick Snyder (MI), or Tom Corbett (PA), all facing competitive races and important races for the long term balance in the House of Representatives, you are faced with a lose-lose proposition. If you say, “still no exchange,” you are basically forcing a large tax increase on health care- that strikes me as a pretty good issue for their Democratic opponents to run on in the fall. If you say, “ok, we’ll build an exchange,” you are alienating your base going into the fall- and, of course, this problem goes away for Americans in these states.
That leaves it up to the Democrats to push the issue: “Hey, voters, Republicans want to raise your taxes and take away your affordable health insurance.” Run on that, get the policy and the law right, and win the election.
On Diane Rehm this morning: no matter what happens (and this mess was the fault of a poorly written portion of the law in the first place), the upshot of all the legal back and forth will wind its way in a leisurely pace to the great fathers in the SCOTUS. It will take months if not years. In the meantime, those needing help from the Federal government to cover their premiums will continue to get it. And one hopes the administration will find a fix to obviate all the legal solutions.