This has not been a good week for President Obama: Obamacare is back on the front burners and back in trouble.
This week, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that another aspect of Obamacare is unconstitutional. In this case, an IRS rule (one of over 20 such executive orders related to Obamacare whereby the administration created a new rule/law without legal authority) called for subsidies to flow through both state and federal exchanges.
The problem? The law clearly states only plans obtained through state exchanges qualified for subsidies. And the problem with this? When Obamacare took effect, over 30 states said “no thanks” to creating their own exchanges. That means many Americans will have to get a plan through the federal exchange and, if this ruling holds, they won’t qualify for a subsidy —which likely means their premiums will be much more expensive.
>>> The Obamacare Employer Mandate Could Die in Some States
The bottom line is that with so few states participating, and many of the exchanges of the ones who are participating in serious financial trouble, this ruling makes much of the “Affordable Health Care Act” completely the opposite.
Earlier this month, another court delivered Obamacare a major blow. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of two family businesses, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, who claimed Obamacare’s Department of Health and Human Services mandate was forcing them to provide abortion inducing drugs against their will and that violated their religious freedom rights. Over 100 similar cases are making their way through the courts now and there is good reason to believe they too will be successful.
But the courts are not the only place producing bad news for the president’s signature piece of legislation. The latest numbers from the Congressional Budget Office project that 31 million Americans will remain uninsured in 2024, a full 10 years after Obamacare has been at work.
And, according to Heritage research associate Alyene Senger:
“…half of Obamacare’s reduction in the uninsured is projected to come from adding 13 million people into the poor-performing, government-run health program, Medicaid. Obamacare expands the program despite its well-documented history of poorer health outcomes and limited access for beneficiaries.”
Recent events only pile on the over 40 changes and counting that have been made to the law since its passage – a clear indicator the law is unaffordable, unworkable and unfair.
To those who maintain, “Obamacare is here to stay,” I say, not so fast.
