That Republican House isn't looking so safe anymore
A 3 judge panel in the DC Court Of Appeals got the nations attention today by holding that, due to a very ineloquent sentence on page 1 zillion of the PPACA, Obamacare clients who enrolled through the Federal Healthcare.gov are not eligible for premium subsidies.
Yes there was a conflicting opinion from the 4th Court and this case will go to an en banc panel of the full DC Court, but the headline is clearly that subsidies are under siege and this will surely end up in the Supreme Court eventually... but not before November's elections.
VICK - TOE - REEE at last!
This has needless to say, but I'm saying it, caused great jubilation on the Right...
as well as a ton of panic most everywhere left of Right.
STOP THE CELEBRATION AND THE PANIC! This ruling will do the exact opposite of it's intention and here's why: Putting the ACA on the razor's edge will not accomplish anything and it will greatly increase the chances that Democrats will make gains in both the national House and in State Legistlatures across the country.
Remember the old adage: "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it"? GOP strategists are facing that dilemma this morning. Some 5-6 million people who are getting ACA subsidies right now were told today that those subsidies will go away... yes, they won't for a long time if ever, BUT, perception is reality and the perception is that those subsidies have been ruled illegal. Scary stuff if you have a $450/month policy and the Feds are paying $200 of it. How big of a catastrophe?
More than 90 percent of the 983,775 Floridians who enrolled in an Obamacare plan for 2014 received one of those subsidies, according to federal data. A study released last week estimated that if the court decision went against the administration, Florida could lose $4.8 billion a year, as Health News Florida reported.
Yeah that's BIG and the crux of this issue lies with State Houses and Governors. Thousands of the affected insured as well as local reporters will be calling their local State Reps and State Senators and asking if they will support setting up State sponsored exchanges to avoid this catastrophe. The answers to that question will become public record and in many districts it will become Issue # 1.
This is an issue that targets Red legislators with zero blowback to Blues. Yes, the Presidential incumbent Party is always at an enthusiasm disadvantage in midterms but this threat has no motivating factor to those on the Right because it lulls them into thinking they have won, despite achieving nothing. Meanwhile those 900,000 Floridians who think they are going to lose their subsidies are 900,000 nano-bots focusing in directly on Governor Rick Scott and the Republican State Legistlators who will surely block any talk of creating a Gator-Care exchange.
We aren't talking about the 50% of uninsured who don't even know that they can qualify for help, we are talking about people who are using these policies right now. They are more educated on this subject than most of us liberally obsessive compulsives and they know the impact of this decision.
State and National Democrats need to get on the stump with this one immediately. Polls have consistently shown an electorate that is ambivalent towards November. While many will be Republican or independent, this is a giant wake up call to those who directly benefit from Democratic policy.
Play it right and this can be a Blue wave-maker.