NYT: Congress Is Told Ruling Against Health Law Would Impact Poor
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration told Congress on Tuesday that it had no plans to help low- and moderate-income people if the Supreme Court ruled against the administration and cut off health insurance subsidies for millions of Americans.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, said a court decision against the administration would do “massive damage” that could not be undone by executive action.
Her statement, in a letter to Congress, puts pressure on the court to rule in favor of the administration. The implicit message is that the White House has no contingency plans, so if the court strikes down subsidies, the justices will be responsible for causing hardship to lower-income people and chaos in insurance markets around the country.
Ms. Burwell is a defendant in the lawsuit, King v. Burwell, which challenges the payment of subsidies in more than 30 states that rely on the federal insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov. The plaintiffs, four Virginia residents, contend that the Affordable Care Act allows subsidies only in states that have created their own insurance exchanges, not in states that rely on the federal marketplace.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/us/congress-is-told-administration-has-no-remedy-for-a-ruling-against-health-law.html?_r=0
