ConLawProf Strikes Again:... Breaking: Obama administration health care subsidies will keep flowing despite court decision...David Burge Tweet
When I first heard the news that an Appeals court dealt a potentially devastating blow to Obamacare, the first thought that raced through my mind: the Obama administration will skirt the court's decision anyway. In short, the court's ruling states that participants in health care exchanges run by the federal government are not eligible for tax subsidies. This affects 34 states. Subsequent to that ruling, another appeals court panel in Richmond, VA, upheld the law. But even if the second court's decision upheld the earlier decision, the Obama administration was going to violate the law anyway. How do I know that? They White House said they would. This administration has a long history of violating laws as recent Supreme Court rulings have shown.
In the last four years, there have been at least two dozen changes to Obamacare. Some of these were done unilaterally by the administration and some by the courts. They include, but have not been limited to, the following:
- A delay on the employer mandate
- A delay on the individual mandate
- Exempting unions from certain fees
- Plans that were considered non-compliant received extensions up to two years
- U.S territories were exempted (this occurred just 4 days ago)
- And over 1000 waivers were granted prior to this year.
In closing, for the critics of Obamacare (and I happen to be one myself), I wouldn't break out the champagne yet. This is an administration that has never let the law get in their way.
