Senator Mitch McConnell revealed Monday that the GOP will “be ready to announce” its healthcare proposal if the Supreme Court strikes down Obamacare’s federal insurance subsidies in the pending King v. Burwell Supreme Court Case.
The decision, which is expected to be delivered later this month, will decide the legality of insurance subsidies for people living in states where the health insurance market is run by the federal government.
These exchanges have been an essential part of the Affordable Care Act’s funding since its enactment, and without them millions of Americans might be expunged from their current insurance schemes, the New York Times reported earlier this month.
Haranguing President Obama’s eponymous act as “the single worst piece of legislation passed in our country in the last half century,” the Senate Majority Leader and his party are pressed for an alternative. Previous attempts by the GOP to define an alternative, such as the Patient CARE Act and the more recent Project 2017 Alternative, have not enjoyed the full backing of the GOP majority.
The Court’s decision comes in time for the July 24 deadline for the Senate Budget Committee’s $1 billion budget deficit reduction plan. As The Washington Times reports, the GOP had intended to use this method of deficit reduction as a vehicle for passing a repeal of Obamacare.
The courts decision, however, might render any alternative redundant, as it will eliminate much of what Republicans have long battled to abolish: federal subsidies for insurance coverage.