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Did Samuel Alito Throw Republicans An Obamacare Lifeline At The Supreme Court?
Forbes ^ | 03/08/2015 | Avik Roy

Posted on 03/09/2015 3:11:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

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1 posted on 03/09/2015 3:11:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Sounds like a lifeline for Obamacare, not opponents


2 posted on 03/09/2015 3:13:14 PM PDT by GeronL (,)
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To: GeronL

It could make it easier for the court to kill the subsidies and force Congress to come up with an alternative.


3 posted on 03/09/2015 3:15:35 PM PDT by kabar
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s not so complicated. Congress can pass legislation that transfers funds back to Medicaid where most of the recipients came from to begin with.

The real losers are health insurance companies that planned on subsidies to grow their coverage. People can live with that outcome.


4 posted on 03/09/2015 3:18:13 PM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: kabar

the right alternative is that people pay for their own crap


5 posted on 03/09/2015 3:19:42 PM PDT by GeronL (,)
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To: Hostage

They got billions already, Obama’s corporate welfare


6 posted on 03/09/2015 3:20:35 PM PDT by GeronL (,)
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To: kabar
It could make it easier for the court to kill the subsidies and force Congress to come up with an alternative.

To quote Mr. Verilli's response to Justice Alito, "This Congress?"

7 posted on 03/09/2015 3:27:51 PM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: SeekAndFind
“I don’t think it’s possible to say that there would be no harm. The tax credits will be cut off immediately and you will have very significant, very adverse effects immediately for millions of people in many states in their insurance markets.”

This is why Republicans must get behind Sasse's plan.

Sasse's plan acts as a giant COBRA for up to 18 months until the markets can work its magic again. It does NOT replace or extend Obamacare.

If the mandate is struck down, Democrats are going to parade the victims around and we all have to listen to their sob stories. And they're going to stage agit-prop rallies in state capitals that have a Republican Govenor to pressure them to cave.

8 posted on 03/09/2015 3:29:31 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Hostage
Congress can pass legislation that transfers funds back to Medicaid where most of the recipients came from to begin with.

Most didn't come from Medicaid. The majority of Obamacare recipients are people who lost their original policies because of Obamacare and people who couldn't afford health insurance and made too much for Medicaid.

9 posted on 03/09/2015 3:30:40 PM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Hostage
Congress can pass legislation that transfers funds back to Medicaid where most of the recipients came from to begin with

Actually, those who are on Obamacare lost their coverage through employer plans, not Medicaid. Sticking the money back into Medicaid is like states who didn't set up the exchanges caving and setting up exchanges within Medicaid.

10 posted on 03/09/2015 3:33:36 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
Is Obama's lawyer telling the Supreme Court the following: "If not a single one of the 50 states opened up a marketplace, the ObamaCare law states very clearly that anybody in those 50 states could still get a tax subsidy by enrolling in the federal government exchange."

1. If the law clearly states---according to Obama's lawyer---that the federal government exchange tax subsidy would be open to anyone----even to those persons who live in a state without its own exchange---then why would any state be motivated to open up its own exchange, when it could easily pass the cost and headaches of an exchange to the federal government's own exchange?

2. It makes no sense to me for a state to open up its own exchange, if the federal government, according to Obama's lawyer, would automatically give subsidies to all applications to its own federal exchange, if a state did not have its own exchange.

3. As I see it, the only way that the states would ever consider opening its own exchange is if the federal government somehow put tremendous pressure on the states to do so.

4. And the key pressure would be this: Enrollees could receive tax subsidies only if their state opened up its own exchange.

5. The Supreme Court Justices should have asked Obama's lawyer this question: "Are you telling us that if not a single state opened up an exchange/marketplace, the ObamaCare law says that the federal government exchange would automatically grant subsidies to all enrollees from all 50 states?"

6. Protecting itself: I think that the authors of the ObamaCare law tried to protect the federal government (1) from the possibility that not a single state would open up its own exchange and (2) from the nightmare that thousands of enrollees would overwhelm its own federal exchange by emphasizing in the law that enrollees could get tax subsidies ONLY if they joined their state's exchange.

11 posted on 03/09/2015 3:56:48 PM PDT by john mirse
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To: kabar
"and force Congress to come up with an alternative"

Or not.

12 posted on 03/09/2015 3:58:30 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: kabar

Don’t you know that when God does show Himself, the deniers will always find another reason for a miracle.

...

It takes away Obama’s case. They know the letter of the law is against them. Their main argument is an honest and correct ruling would cause too much harm.


13 posted on 03/09/2015 4:18:07 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: SeekAndFind

At the hearing, President Obama’s Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli, argued that if the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare’s federal exchange subsidies are illegal, “I don’t think it’s possible to say that there would be no harm. The tax credits will be cut off immediately and you will have very significant, very adverse effects immediately for millions of people in many states in their insurance markets.”

This whole argument is irrelevant. Chief Justice John Roberts said, “It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”


14 posted on 03/09/2015 4:33:53 PM PDT by mouske
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To: DoodleDawg; Extremely Extreme Extremist

The numbers I have seen published are roughly 2 million who lost employer sponsored health insurance and about 6 million that were folded in from State Medicaid.

Most are from Medicaid from what I’ve read.

The point is the democrats and their GOP comrades are trying to paint a picture of disaster before the US Supreme Court when in fact Obamacare is the disaster.

Congress can pass legislation to have employers reinstate health coverage for those that lost it. States can close down the exchanges and fund again their Medicaid recipients as before.

The losers are the health insurance companies who were hoping to feed off of Obamacare payments.

General Motors will have to live up to their promises to the unions regarding healthcare or go bankrupt. I don’t really care what happens to GM. And that’s really what this was all about to begin with.


15 posted on 03/09/2015 4:36:09 PM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: SeekAndFind

This sounds ominously like ownership of 0bamcare could very well be transferred from the deceitful democrats to the inept republicans.


16 posted on 03/09/2015 5:37:40 PM PDT by lakecumberlandvet (APPEASEMENT NEVER WORKS.)
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To: mouske
At the hearing, President Obama’s Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli, argued that if the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare’s federal exchange subsidies are illegal, “I don’t think it’s possible to say that there would be no harm. The tax credits will be cut off immediately and you will have very significant, very adverse effects immediately for millions of people in many states in their insurance markets.”

This whole argument is irrelevant. Chief Justice John Roberts said, “It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”

*******

Is Obama's lawyer telling the Supreme Court the following: "If not a single one of the 50 states opened up a marketplace, the ObamaCare law states very clearly that anybody in those 50 states could still get a tax subsidy by enrolling in the federal government exchange."

1. If the law clearly states---according to Obama's lawyer---that the federal government exchange tax subsidy would be open to anyone even to those persons who live in a state without its own exchange, then why would any state be motivated to open up its own exchange, when it could easily pass the cost and headaches of an exchange to the federal government's own exchange?

2. It makes no sense to me for a state to open up its own exchange, if the federal government, according to Obama's lawyer, would automatically give subsidies to all applications to its own federal exchange, if a state did not have its own exchange.

3. As I see it, the only way that the states would ever consider opening its own exchange is if the federal government somehow put tremendous pressure on the states to do so.

4. And the key pressure would be this: Enrollees could receive tax subsidies only if their state opened up its own exchange.

5. The Supreme Court Justices should have asked Obama's lawyer this question: "Are you telling us that if not a single state opened up an exchange/marketplace, the ObamaCare law says that the federal government exchange would automatically grant subsidies to all enrollees from all 50 states?"

6. Protecting itself: I think that the authors of the ObamaCare law tried to protect the federal government (1) from the possibility that not a single state would open up its own exchange and (2) from the nightmare that thousands of enrollees would overwhelm its own federal exchange by emphasizing in the law that enrollees could get tax subsidies ONLY if they joined their state's exchange.

17 posted on 03/09/2015 5:56:03 PM PDT by john mirse
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To: GeronL

And if pigs had wings, they could fly.


18 posted on 03/09/2015 8:20:13 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Moonman62

Exactly. The government says Armageddon will happen if the court rules against them. It is winning thru intimidation. I predict the court will cave once again. Obamacare is here to stay.


19 posted on 03/09/2015 8:22:21 PM PDT by kabar
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To: SeekAndFind

The problem here is they would be adopting a stay to prevent harm to some people, but they would have to make their action immediate to actually not harm the petitioners.


20 posted on 03/09/2015 8:24:25 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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