On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in King v. Burwell and decide if it is legal to distribute tax subsidies to middle- and low-income Americans who bought health insurance through the federal exchange. If the judges rule against the administration it could finally mean the unraveling of ObamaCare, a GOP goal five years in the making.
One key note missing from the chorus of Republican critics has been an alternative to the Affordable Care Act. But on Monday, Republicans Paul Ryan, John Kline, and Fred Upton laid out a contingency plan, something they are calling an "off-ramp from ObamaCare," in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal. The Ryan-Kline-Upton plan would liberalize insurance markets and offer tax credits to help the uninsured purchase health insurance. States would be able to opt out of ObamaCare's insurance mandates, "allowing Americans to purchase the coverage they want," they write.
"So here's the bottom line: Under ObamaCare, government controls your choices. Under our proposal, you will." [The Wall Street Journal]
The Ryan-Kline-Upton plan is a significant step forward, writes Avik Roy in Forbes. "It firmly takes the side of using advanceable, refundable tax credits to help the uninsured buy health insurance," he says.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Click here to read more on the GOP plan.
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
