Contingency plans set on US healthcare

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Financial Times:

The Obama administration has prepared contingency plans in case the Supreme Court strikes down part or all of its signature healthcare reform law later this month, Kathleen Sebelius, health secretary, said on Thursday.

The much-anticipated ruling, expected before the end of June, will have huge political implications in a presidential election year, with a victory for the administration giving President Barack Obama a boost as he campaigns for a second term.

But if the court overturns the “individual mandate” requiring almost all Americans to buy medical insurance, or scraps the entire law, that could give a boost to Republican arguments that the Obama administration has exceeded its power and should be ejected from the White House.

Speaking at a women’s health town hall meeting held at the White House, Mrs Sebelius said the administration remained “confident and optimistic that this change within the law was well within the purview of Congress”.

“Having said that, we’ll be ready for court contingencies,” she said, warning that striking down the law would have a “pretty cataclysmic impact” and would undo the “incredible changes and improvements to Medicare”, the federal health plan for the elderly, introduced over the past two years.

“What we’re doing right now is just working as hard as we possibly can to get ready for 2014,” Mrs Sebelius told the meeting, referring to the year when many of the biggest changes will take effect.

The law, passed by Congress with the narrowest of margins two years ago, introduced a requirement for everyone but the very poor or those with religious objections to buy some kind of health insurance.

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An indication that they know what's coming?