Heres a good summary of what happened and is happening with Obamacare. Copied from CCHFREEDOM.ORG. What if Obamacare subsidies disappear? This week a critical decision is expected on Halbig vs. Burwell, formerly titled Halbig vs. Sebelius. The case challenges the IRS for providing millions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies to people in 36 states through the federal exchange, Healthcare.gov. Waiting in the wings is Pruitt vs. Burwell, a case filed by the Oklahoma Attorney General that also challenges the subsidies. One or both cases could end up in the Supreme Court. Halbig plaintiffs say the law allows subsidies only through a state exchange. And because the mandate and its penalties are hinged on the existence of Obamacare premium subsidies, actually called Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTC), Halbig claims harm done. Without subsidies, theres no mandate and no penalties. (see our press release below) The authors of Obamacare thought they were being clever -- twice. First, they established the state health insurance exchanges with language making it appear as a mandate (Section 1311). Then because the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from commandeering a state through such a mandate, they created the federal exchange as a fallback position in a separate section of the law (Section 1321). They hoped states would accept the mandate, never see Section 1321, and forget the Constitutional prohibition on commandeering. They never intended to build a federal exchange (now called Healthcare.gov) and they gave themselves no money to do so. Thus, as they testified, 30-40% of it is not even built. Second, the authors said federal Obamacare subsidies could only be issued by state-established exchanges. This was a bribe: If governors and state legislators agree to build an exchange with federal dollars and then maintain it with hundreds of millions of state dollars and fees on users, the federal government would agree to give their constituents money to pay the higher cost of Obamacare coverage. But 36 states saw the trap and refused to build a state exchange. They didnt want to cede state control over health care -- state exchanges are state exchanges in name only. HHS controls everything about them -- and they didnt want to be on the hook for the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to run the website. So Obamas IRS took matters into their own hands. They declared an interpretation of the law that was not the plain language of the law. Their final rule made subsidies available from any exchange including a State Exchange, regional Exchange, subsidiary Exchange, and Federally-facilitated Exchange. Look for sparks to fly no matter how the court rules. The Obama administration has been caught in a clever scheme. This lawsuit could shut down the scheme -- and the law.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:37:52 +0000
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