Republicans have fiercely opposed the Affordable Care Act since its passage in 2009, with prominent GOP lawmakers promising everything from legislative fixes to full repeal.
And now, with the future of President Obama’s chief domestic policy hanging in the balance over a Supreme Court ruling, and with the GOP controlling Congress, media wants to know what alternative Republicans would propose, even though they have proposed several that have been shot down by many of the same media outlets.
“Republicans in Congress would face an enormously complicated challenge to fashion an alternative,” The New York Times reported, suggesting that the sudden loss of healthcare coverage for millions of Americans will come back to haunt the GOP at the polls.
Referencing the newspaper’s report, the Times’ Mark S. Getzfred said on social media, “If SCOTUS throws out Obamacare, [Republicans] must fashion alternative.”
“Republicans in Congress need to figure out what alternative to #Obamacare they can offer voters,” Barron’s declared in a report.
The Economist added, “If the GOP had a serious alternative to Obamacare then [the Supreme Court] would be free to decide Burwell v King on its merits.”
“Why Don’t Republicans Have An Alternative To Obamacare?” Forbes contributor John C. Goodman asked.
In the case being argued before the Supreme Court, King v. Burwell, plaintiffs say the Internal Revenue Service does not have the authority to grant tax-credit subsidies for health insurance coverage purchased through federal exchanges. The lawsuit argues that subsidies can only go to people in the state-run healthcare exchanges.
Should the Supreme Court agree, roughly 6.4 million people in 34 states stand to lose their coverage under Obamacare. For Republicans, this could mean destruction at the polls, the press predicts.
“Senior Republicans who are worried they’ll be blamed for killing health insurance for millions of Americans have been busy assembling a range of options if the Supreme Court strikes down the law’s subsidies,” Politico reported.
Despite these warnings in the media, Republicans have yet to offer a serious alternative.
“The Clock Is Ticking And Republicans Still Have No Serious Obamacare Alternative,” The Huffington Post’s Jonathan Cohn declared.
“On Obamacare’s Five-Year Anniversary, Republicans Still Lack An Alternative,” Talking Points Memo said in a post published on March 23.
Republican lawmakers, including Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Fred Upton, R-Mich., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have suggested several fixes to the massive healthcare law.
In February, when Hatch, Orrin and Upton presented their plan, which calls for the creation of refundable tax credits as well as the elimination of the law’s mandate that individuals purchase healthcare and employers offer coverage to employees, it was criticized by some in media for being a rehash of a previous Republican alternative.
Separately, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has presented a plan that would extend the subsidies for 18 months should the Supreme Court rule the subsidies are illegal. It would also eliminate the individual and employer mandates, which Democrats in Congress are unlikely to support.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., meanwhile, presented a plan that suggested that instead of “reimposing subsidies for people, Congress should move to make health insurance more affordable by exempting affected states from key Obamacare mandates,” the Washington Examiner reported.
But these suggestions have left some in media deeply unimpressed, with a few claiming that GOP plans either don’t go far enough, that they go too far or that they are simply stale and rehashed ideas.
“Paul Ryan can’t even convince Fox News that Republicans have a viable Obamacare alternative,” Salon blared in a headline.
“Rand Paul’s Obamacare alternative looks like the world pre-Obamacare because that worked out so well,” ThinkProgress’ Igor Volsky tweeted in reference to the Kentucky lawmaker’s proposal.
The Supreme Court is expected to deliver a ruling on King v. Burwell later this month.
