The U.S. Supreme Court dealt congressional Republicans’ efforts to roll back Obamacare a severe blow when it ruled to uphold the all the law’s subsidies for low-income individuals to purchase insurance, solidifying the health care law as a key part of President Barack Obama’s legacy.
GOP leaders on Capitol Hill vowed to keep up the fight to dismantle Obamacare, but the reality is they have virtually no path to get rid of the law while Obama is still in the White House. Any bill they pass will inevitably face a presidential veto.
Publicly Republicans criticized the high court’s ruling, but privately many members were relieved they were not left with the herculean challenge of coming up with a plan to fix the chaos in the health insurance market if the court struck down the subsidies for millions of Americans.
House and Senate GOP leaders had developed a backup plan — legislation to shift money to the states and continue the subsidies for those that potentially could have lost care if the court ruled against the Obama administration. But many conservatives blasted that proposal because it essentially kept key pieces of the current law in place, so it was unclear if that bill could pass.
In the wake of the ruling Republicans on Capitol Hill considered their legislative options for doing away with the law.
Some Republicans quickly pointed to a procedural tool, known as “reconciliation” that allows a bill to pass in the Senate with a simple majority, taking away the Democrats’ expected filibuster on any bill to take apart the health care law.
“I would anticipate that the focus would move in the direction of repealing all of Obamacare that can be repealed through reconciliation,” House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price told reporters after the ruling was released.
But House Speaker John Boehner insisted there was no decision yet on whether or not the GOP would use that procedural option. He did repeat Republicans still wanted to replace Obamacare though.
“The law is broken. It’s raising cost for American families,” Boehner said. “And we’re going to continue our efforts to do everything we can to put the American people back in charge of their own healthcare and not the federal government.”
When pressed if House Republicans would hold a vote this year on an alternative, Boehner sidestepped the issue, and said his party would refocus on next steps now that they know the Supreme Court’s decision.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argued the law isn’t working and supporters needed to work across party lines.
“The politicians who forced Obamacare on the American people now have a choice: crow about Obamacare’s latest wobble towards the edge, or work with us to address the ongoing negative impact of a 2,000-page law that continues to make life miserable for too many of the same people it purported to help,” he said.
Boehner said on Thursday his own legal challenge to Obamacare is still moving forward. That case, filed in federal district court in Washington, focuses on the way the Obama administration reimbursing insurance companies covering care for poor Americans.
“They are paying insurers out of an account that’s never been appropriated and taking money from elsewhere in the law to do this. I think this violates the Constitution. It certainly violates Congress’ prerogative to appropriate funds,” Boehner said.
Top Senate and House Democratic leaders were jubilant at the news. At a press conference on Capitol Hill, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid raised their hands in triumph.
Pelosi called the ruling “a victory for common sense and for all American families.”
She even mocked the GOP for again pledging to repeal the law.,
“Yeah, they may try this, that or the other thing, but the more time goes by, the more people benefit from the Affordable Care Act and the more ridiculous I think they look,” she said.