Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Obama Expresses Optimism About Outcome Of Pending Health Law Challenge
The New York Times: Obama To State His Case For Health Law Before Justices Weigh In
President Obama will deliver a speech on Tuesday extolling his health care law as a moral and practical victory that was decades in the making. White House officials said that the speech’s timing was unrelated to the ruling, and that Mr. Obama was not seeking to sway the justices in a case that they probably decided shortly after it was argued in March. But the White House is clearly stating its case for the law before what could be a challenging period if the court invalidates subsidies for millions of people who signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov. The justices will issue a ruling by the end of the month. If they strike down the subsidies, millions of people could lose their health insurance, and rates for millions more could rise if the insurance markets collapse in the more than 30 states that use the federal insurance exchange. (Shear, 6/9)
USA Today: Obama's Day: Defending The Health Care Law
Obama will attend the Catholic Hospital Association Conference to "discuss what health care reform has meant to millions of Americans," says the White House schedule. That includes "improved and affordable coverage options for individuals," as well as "new rights and protections for all consumers, rising quality of care, and the transformative impact on the economy as a whole," the White House says. (Jackson, 6/9)
The New York Times: Obama Is Optimistic Justices Will Let Health Care Law Stand
A decision by the Supreme Court to strike down health care subsidies in federally run marketplaces would be a “contorted reading” of the Affordable Care Act that would disrupt coverage for millions of people, President Obama said on Monday. But at a news conference at the end of a two-day trip to Germany, he expressed optimism that the justices, who are set to announce a decision on a challenge to the subsidies this month, will let his signature domestic achievement stand. (Shear, 6/8)
The Wall Street Journal: Obama Confident Supreme Court Will Uphold Health-Insurance Subsidies
Speaking Monday at a news conference in Germany, at the Group of Seven summit, Mr. Obama said the case, which the Supreme Court is expected to decide near the end of the month “should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldn’t even have been taken up.” Plaintiffs in the case, King v. Burwell, argue that four words in the health law mean subsidies under the 2010 Affordable Care Act can go only to residents of the dozen states that established their own health-insurance exchanges, rather than the rest of the country, which relies on the federal government HealthCare.gov website. (Tau, 6/8)
CBS News: Obama Warns Supreme Court Could Upend Obamacare
President Obama on Monday gave a stern warning that if the Supreme Court rules against the system of subsidies holding up Obamacare, it "would be hard to fix." In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court could rule that only customers in state-run Obamacare marketplaces are eligible for federal subsidies. If the court does agree with the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell, it could make the health care coverage unaffordable for millions. ... Even so, the White House has refused to put forward a "plan B" to lay out how it would respond to such a ruling. Asked why not, Mr. Obama effectively likened the health care law to Humpty Dumpty -- once it's broken, it's hard to put back together. (Condon, 6/9)
The Associated Press: Obama: Court Shouldn't Have Considered Health Law Challenge
With a crucial legal decision looming, President Barack Obama said Monday the Supreme Court should not even have considered the latest challenge to his signature health care law but he voiced confidence the justices "will play it straight" — and leave the law intact. ... Obama says it has been well-documented that Congress never intended to exclude people who went through the federal exchange. "You interpret a statute based on what the intent and meaning and the overall structure of the statute provides for," said Obama, a lawyer who once taught constitutional law. (Kuhnhenn and Pickler, 6/8)
Reuters: Obama: No Reason Supreme Court To Overturn Health Care Law
Even Republicans who worked on the legislation have agreed that they intended for people buying insurance on the federally-run exchange to be eligible for subsidies, Obama said. (Mason, 6/8)
The Associated Press: Obama: Congress Can Fix Health Law If Court Rules Against It
President Barack Obama says he has no alternate plan if the Supreme Court invalidates a key benefit of his health care law and he places the burden on the Republican-controlled Congress to fix the law if the high court wipes out insurance for millions of Americans. Voicing confidence he will prevail before the court. (Kuhnhenn, 6/9)
Politico: Obama: Supreme Court Shouldn't Have Heard Obamacare Challenge
Obama repeated the administration’s contention that there’s no contingency plan or fix to keep insurance markets from going into a tailspin, predicting that the justices would decide in his favor. And in any case, he added, Congress could fix the ambiguous phrasing of the health law “with a one-sentence provision.” Senate Republicans quickly shot down that possibility. “Let’s be clear: if the Supreme Court rules against the administration, Congress will not pass a so-called ‘one-sentence’ fake fix,” said Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the Senate’s No. 3 Republican. (Wheaton, 6/8)
Also, the Los Angeles Times offers this reminder of what cases remain on the HIgh Court's list -
Los Angeles Times: Important Cases Pending Before The Supreme Court And The Decisions So Far
The Supreme Court is heading into the final month of its annual term. In a potentially historic ruling, the court will decide whether same-sex couples have a right to marry nationwide, culminating a two-decade legal and political fight for marriage equality. Another much-anticipated decision will be whether the Obama administration may continue to subsidize health insurance for low- and middle-income people who buy coverage in the 36 states that failed to establish an official insurance exchange of their own and instead use a federally run version. (Savage, 6/8)
