‘Obamacare’: If it’s overturned...

Supporters of President Obama's health-care law are now “thinking the unthinkable.”

President Obama’s health-care law has had its day in court, said Julie Rovner in NPR.org, and it went badly enough that its supporters are now “thinking the unthinkable”: What if the Supreme Court overturns “the entire Affordable Care Act?” If that happens, the political impact on the presidential race could be like an 8.0 earthquake—and the consequences for the nation’s health-care system would be just as profound. More than 5 million seniors who’ve received prescription drug rebates under the law might have to repay the money. The 18- to 26-year-olds covered by their parents’ health plans would become uninsured. Changes to Medicare rules and payments would be erased, leaving doctors and hospitals in an uproar. The predictions of most experts “generally range from ‘God only knows’ to ‘bedlam’ to ‘chaos.’”

A partial rejection of the bill would be “the worst possible outcome,” said Matthew O’Brien in TheAtlantic.com. If the court overturns the so-called “individual mandate” but leaves the rest of the bill intact, insurers would have to offer reasonably priced coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions, but without the mandated premiums of new, healthy customers to offset the cost. Such a scenario would send everyone’s premiums soaring, and leave the industry on the brink of collapse. That’s why the court might strike down the mandate and the popular insurance reforms, said Jennifer Haberkorn in Politico.com. If that happens, the Republicans who led the charge to scrap the health-care bill will face intense pressure “to find some way of enacting those insurance reforms without the mandate.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us