How Obama Hoodwinked the Supreme Court on Obamacare

American Thinker ^ | August 22, 2016 | Hollis Hurd

[Kaslin]

In the case of King v. Burwell, decided by the Supreme Court in June of 2015, President Obama won the day by convincing six justices that Obamacare would collapse if he lost. The case involved the so-called "individual mandate," which imposes a financial penalty on those who neglect to buy health insurance. To many observers, the wording of Affordable Care Act seemed to impose the financial penalty only in states where a state exchange had been set up, not in states where the federal exchange operated by default.

At that time, only 16 states (and the District of Columbia) had set up state exchanges; the federal exchange covered the remaining 34 states. Thus, the specter was presented of no financial penalty for not buying health insurance in the 34 states covered only by the federal exchange. The president argued forcefully that, absent the penalty, healthy individuals in those 34 states might well choose not to buy insurance. Instead, only the sick would buy insurance, which would send the health insurance system into a death spiral and destroy Obamacare.

Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Roberts agreed with the president's argument that, despite doubts about the text of Obamacare, the financial penalty is vitally necessary to avoid a death spiral. Roberts therefore opined that the financial penalty applies not only in states that established state exchanges (as the statute says), but also in states where individuals are covered only by the federal exchange. To many observers, the decision seemed to be purely result-oriented – rescuing Obamacare from a death spiral – rather than drawn from the text of the law.

[monkeyshine]

So if I read the story right it is very easy to game the system. Simply stop paying one of your utility bills for 60-90 days, and as soon as you receive a shut-off notice take it to the HHS office and get a hardship exemption from the “individual mandate”. Then go and pay the utility bill before they shut it off.

I had read that some of the problems insurers are having comes from people signing up for insurance during open enrollment, cramming as much medical care as possible into the first 60 days, but never paying the insurance premium or stop paying it after they have received medical services. They will be dropped from coverage but all they need do is wait another 8-10 months and enroll back in again, since insurers cannot reject applicants this can be repeated indefinitely. And, if one of the listed emergency medical situations occurs, you can enroll at any time.

So a person can pretty much get away without ever spending a dime by enrolling but not paying for insurance, while obtaining a hardship exemption to keep the IRS at bay. Voila, free healthcare!

[HiTech RedNeck]

And on top of this, if you don’t mind a standoff of angry letters with the IRS... just don’t pay the thing, and don’t get into a situation where the IRS owes you. Voila, IRS can’t collect.

[zzwhale]

what do you mean hoodwinked...
roberts coached the numbskull lawyer sent to plea the case

ROBERTS IS A SCUMBAG
ROBERTS WANTS THE NEGATIVES
ROBERTS EATS SHEET AND ASKS FOR MORE.....

man versus goat.....
goat wins

[SkyPilot]

[Ann Archy]

Roberts was/IS being BLACKMAILED about his kid’s adoption!

[Kaslin]

That is correct.

[jsanders2001]

Is “Hoodwinked” the new way of saying “Blackmailed”?

Probably have signed statements and photos of Robert's homosexual lovers from the pass and a deportation order ready for those adopted kids ready to go at any given minute. We live in a thugocracy. Even the Mafia wishes they were black now.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

bkmk

[LegendHasIt]

Yep.