Public Relations War if Supreme Court Rules Against ACA Subsidies

The American Enterprise Institute has just released an 1160 word report “If SCOTUS Rules Against ACA Subsidies “on what happens if the Supreme Court rules federal subsidies in 37 states affecting 5 million people are illegal. For public relations and political reasons, it is generally agreed these people will have to be covered until the end of 2015 by some alternative plan rather than having their subsidies abruptly dropped and having the insurance industry descend into chaos. Preparations are underway in Congress to create such a plan, but the administration, anticipating a favorable SCOTUS ruling says it has no plan.

The authors of the report , Thomas Miller of the American Enterprise Institute and Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute make this comment in the course of their 1100 word commentary.

“ The public-relations wars over the pending Supreme Court decision already have begun: Families USA is leading the effort on the left and will try to show how many people will be harmed if the subsidies are struck down. Supporters of free markets and limited government are mounting their own serious media-outreach effort to show the harm that this law is doing, emphasizing the soaring cost of health insurance, the threat of mandate penalties, the labor-market disincentives, the disruptions in previous coverage, and patients’ reduced access to their preferred medical providers. Critics of the IRS rule need to explain very clearly that Congress is ready and willing to act to take care of the people who will lose their coverage if the Supreme Court decides not to allow subsidies on the federal exchanges.”

Hold onto your hats and fasten your seat belts. The war has begun.