White House press secretary Josh Earnest asserts that the Obama administration doesn't believe any new healthcare legislation will pass Congress if the Supreme Court rules unfavorably on Obamacare in the King v. Burwell case.
Earnest's disclosure came in response to a question from Newsmax regarding Sen. Bill Cassidy's recent unveiling of his Patient Freedom Act at the Washington, D.C.-based Hudson Institute.
Billing his legislation as "something that achieves the aims of the Affordable Care Act without the cost and the mandates," the Louisiana Republican, himself a physician, spelled out the high points of the bill: ending all mandates, ensuring portability (keeping one's healthcare plan after moving or changing jobs), funding going directly to patients, and keeping such popular Obamacare features as permitting young people to remain on their parents' plans until age 26.
At the regular briefing for reporters at the White House on Friday, Newsmax mentioned Cassidy's Patient Freedom Act and asked Earnest if the administration was in touch with him or members of Congress of either party on alternative healthcare legislation if the King v. Burwell decision goes against the administration.
"I don't have any conversations to tell you about," he replied, eschewing the standard administration criticism that Republicans in Congress have no alternative to Obamacare.
Earnest quickly added that the White House "continues to be completely confident in the strength of the legal arguments that were presented to the Supreme Court."
Should the high court rule against the arguments made by administration, he said, "it will cause significant turmoil in the healthcare markets, and we will see a lot of people's affordable healthcare plans be put at risk.
"There's no easy fix to doing that," he told us, "particularly when you consider how difficult it has been for commonsense pieces of legislation to move through the Congress."
As for what Congress would do in the event of an unfavorable ruling in King, Earnest said: "With something as controversial as healthcare, it's hard to imagine any sort of legislative fix passing through that legislative body."
The Supreme Court could hand down a ruling as early as this week that would end Obamacare subsidies to 37 states and make healthcare coverage unaffordable for many.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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