Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, hit back at Republicans’ alternative to ObamaCare, accusing them of sending a “false message” to the Supreme Court.
{mosads}House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), along with two other Republican chairmen, outlined a plan on Monday night to provide states an “off-ramp” from ObamaCare if the Supreme Court guts the law’s subsidies in the case of King v. Burwell, set for arguments on Wednesday.
“This isn’t an off-ramp. It would be a dead end for millions of Americans who would see their tax credits disappear,” Levin countered in a statement on Tuesday.
“Republicans are trying to send a false message to the Supreme Court that they could repair the enormous damage that this case could bring to the health care of Americans when they cannot even address basic funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” he continued. “This plan is vacuous. The result of an adverse Supreme Court ruling would be hugely dangerous.”
Republicans are trying to show the high court that they have a backup plan ready if the justices strike down the law’s subsidies.
If the court rules for the plaintiffs, around 7.5 million people in the roughly three dozen states relying on federally-run marketplaces would lose subsidies that help them afford insurance.
The House Republican chairmen’s plan would provide tax credits, in as yet unspecified amounts, to help people buy insurance, and would allow states to opt out of ObamaCare’s mandates to buy insurance.
Senate Republican chairmen have proposed a different plan that would provide financial assistance to let people temporarily keep their ObamaCare plans while a state-based solution is worked out.