Hundreds of protesters descended upon the Supreme Court’s steps today in advance of oral arguments on a key Obamacare challenge, with the healthcare law’s supporters outnumbering a small but vocal Tea Party contingent.
The competing voices took to the court steps before the start of arguments on King v. Burwell, which focuses on whether the federal government can provide subsidies for Obamacare customers that reside in states that use federal-run healthcare exchanges. Opponents argue only residents in the 14 states that set up their own exchanges should receive the subsidies.
Several supporters of the healthcare law shared their story in how the law’s subsidies have helped them.
Terry Donald of Florida told the crowd that before he got Obamacare, he had to decide whether his family was covered or not, a choice he doesn’t have to make under the law. Now subsidies are able to lower his healthcare costs by hundreds of dollars.
A doctor told the Washington Examiner he is there because he is “a cancer survivor.”
“I didn’t have coverage for six months after medical school,” said Devon Fagel, of Connecticut, donned in scrubs and a white doctor’s coat. Fagel was able to get coverage under the law.
Opponents took an opposite take, complaining of government encroachment in healthcare.
“It is not the government’s job to be in healthcare,” Gregg Cummings from Iowa, told the Washington Examiner. Cummings, one of about 30 people protesting the law, held a small, camouflage-covered pole with the American flag and “Don’t Tread on Me” flag popular with tea party supporters.
Other healthcare opponents were equally worried about government involvement.
“Statutes can’t be rewritten on the fly by the IRS. It is a very core principle to our system of government that is at stake here,” said American Commitment president Phil Kerpen, clad in a “I’m with Stupid” t-shirt emblazoned with Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber’s photo, a throwback to Gruber’s controversial remarks last year that the law got passed due to the stupidity of American voters.
Several Republican lawmakers spoke in a makeshift stage set up by the conservative group Tea Party Patriots to slam the subsidies and the healthcare law.
Tea Party favorite Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, mentioned the law’s supporters who chanted about five feet away from him.
“We see signs around here that say don’t take my healthcare,” Gohmert noted, a remark that elicited wild cheers from Obamacare supporters. “These are exactly the people we need to help. As Americans we always reach out and help those who are ignorant of what is going on around them.”
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he was on the Energy & Commerce Committee when the law was being considered, and it was never the committee’s intent to provide subsidies to federal-run exchanges.
Healthcare advocates were worried if the subsidies were gutted it would result in more people flocking to emergency rooms instead of getting more preventative care, creating a strain on hospitals and healthcare workers.
“As nurses we see the benefits that happen when people have access to health insurance and we see the consequences when they don’t,” said Marla Weston, head of the American Nurses Association, which had members present at the protests.
