Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Poll: Majority Wants Congress To Step In If High Court Nullifies Health Law Subsidies
A majority of voters wants Congress to take action if the Supreme Court voids the health law’s tax credits in much of the country, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey finds. The court is set to hear arguments Wednesday over whether the Obama administration can issue federal tax credits to offset the cost of health premiums to millions of Americans who live in states that haven't set up their own insurance exchanges. The tax credits are closely tied to other provisions in the law, including requirements that most Americans buy coverage or pay a penalty, and insurers can’t reject people based on their medical history. (Radnofsky, 3/3)
A majority of voters believe that Congress should pass a law to aid millions of lower-income Americans who could lose their health care coverage if the Supreme Court invalidates the subsidies they receive for living in states that didn't establish their own insurance marketplaces. (Dann, 3/3)
Several key conservative lawmakers aren't ruling out support for proposals to temporarily extend people’s ObamaCare plans if the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies under the law. (Sullivan, 3/3)
Top Republicans in the House and Senate agree that a Supreme Court ruling against the White House on Obamacare tax subsidies would leave millions of Americans with health insurance bills that they can’t afford — and they all want to do something about it. That’s where most of the consensus ends. (Haberkorn, 3/3)
Congressional Republicans are proposing long and short-term alternatives to ObamaCare as the Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments Wednesday in a case that has the potential to unravel the health care law. (3/4)
And, in the background, health law backers and opponents alike have been working behind the scenes to shape the justices' opinions and to brace for the decision's impact -
War rooms of lawmakers and their aides in the U.S. Congress are working furiously to try to influence the Supreme Court's nine justices who will hear arguments on Wednesday on the future of President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law. These informal working groups, staffed by Republican and Democratic members of Congress, have gone into high gear in recent days. (Cowan, 3/4)
For more than 30 years, the Federalist Society has worked behind the scenes to shape Supreme Court outcomes to a conservative agenda. In King v. Burwell, its influence could eliminate health insurance subsidies for millions of people. (Martin, 3/3)
But even physicians who think the court will uphold the subsidies are gearing up for the worst. Worried about newly-insured patients such as those who have just begun treatment for cancer or other serious illnesses, they are dusting off playbooks they retired when Obamacare slashed the number of uninsured people. Interviews with doctors reached through professional groups show that they are lining up free clinics to care for patients with chronic illnesses, asking pharmaceutical companies to provide discounted drugs, and moving up preventive-care appointments and complicated procedures. (Begley, 3/4)
