Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who rode his opposition to Obamacare to a seat in the Senate, has introduced legislation that should help Republicans avoid turning a potential victory at the Supreme Court into a defeat for the cause of repeal. Sasse’s bill, introduced yesterday evening, is designed to keep Republican governors and state legislators from setting up state-based exchanges in the wake of a favorable ruling in King v. Burwell, and to keep Republican congressional leadership from negotiating “fixes” to Obamacare with President Obama in the wake of the same.  At the same time, Sasse’s bill wouldn’t turn the Obamacare subsidies back on, and it won’t prevent Republicans from uniting behind a proposal to let each state choose whether to switch to a conservative alternative that would effectively repeal and replace Obamacare in the state.

Senator Sasse’s bill, which is intended to be transitional and encourage further consideration of alternatives to Obamacare, has three main parts.  First, it would provide COBRA-like protection to anyone who was compelled by Obamacare’s unprecedented individual mandate to buy federally approved health insurance.  COBRA, signed into law by President Reagan 30 years ago, allows those with employer-based insurance to keep it for 18 months at its current price if they leave or lose their job.  Similarly, Sasse’s legislation would allow those with Obamacare-compliant insurance to keep it for 18 months at its current price and not be forced to renew their policy through an Obamacare exchange.