Is it too late for the GOP to really kill ObamaCare?

A looming Supreme Court decision could strike down ObamaCare, and Republicans are vowing to repeal it. Still, key elements of President Obama's signature health-care reform law might be here to stay. Three of the nation's biggest insurers — UnitedHealth, Aetna, and Humana — said this week that they would keep some of the legislation's most popular provisions, such as letting young adults stay on their parents' health plans until age 26, regardless of what happens to the law. And even some Republicans in Congress are softening their opposition to some aspects of the law, such as mandated coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions. Does this mean that the window has closed on Republicans who want to scrap ObamaCare entirely?

At least some of ObamaCare will survive: It will still be an enormous setback if the Affordable Care Act gets dismantled, says Steve Benen at MSNBC. We need the law to preserve critical reforms, such as guaranteed coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. Still, it should "bring peace of mind to millions of Americans" to know that even if the Supreme Court or the GOP take us back to the "dysfunctional mess" we had before, crucial ObamaCare improvements will live on.

"Win or lose, Obamacare has changed the game"

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This proves free-market reforms are the best: It's hardly earth-shaking news that insurers want to keep "slacker" young adults on their parents' plans, says Avik Roy at Forbes. "Covering young people, who rarely require health care, is good business for insurers." This just shows that a "truly free market" — which we don't have yet — will lead to "voluntary, rather than coercive, solutions" to bring more people into the health care system, so Republicans should stick to their guns.

"Who needs the 'slacker mandate?' UnitedHealth to voluntarily continue under-26 insurance policies"

The bulk of ObamaCare is still on the chopping block: It's nice that insurance providers are doing something voluntarily, says Sarah Kliff at The Washington Post. "There's a much longer list of what they have not volunteered to do," from subsidizing health insurance for low- and middle-class Americans to committing to spending 80 percent of every premium dollar on medical care. If ObamaCare's opponents kill it, its biggest parts "will still land on the cutting-room floor."

"Why one health insurer won’t extend ObamaCare's benefits"