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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 10 things to know for Wednesday Chautauqua series brings author Jane Hamilton to Ashland 10 things to know for Tuesday Lots to celebrate at SOU Arbor Day rites Control burn set for Wednesday Education Chautauqua series brings author Jane Hamilton to Ashland Ashland Runs on Volunteers: OLLI classes pay dividends in joy of teaching, learning New Southern Oregon University board votes to bump tuition nearly 5 percent in the fall Why OLLI matters: A personal perspective Southern Oregon University names director of marketing Environment Lots to celebrate at SOU Arbor Day rites Mt. Ashland Ski Area to host party March 28 Mt. Ashland hopes coming storm will reopen ski area Wild Side: Selfish and other reasons for saving endangered species Mt. 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COMMENTARY Honoré: GOP's health care strategy Comment By Chris Honoré for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for the Tidings Posted Feb. 23, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Feb 23, 2015 at 1:08 PM By Chris Honoré for the Tidings Posted Feb. 23, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Feb 23, 2015 at 1:08 PM » Social News How is it possible that the House Republicans would vote 56 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act? How can they so vehemently dislike a law that has as its foundation a humane attempt to address a problem that has haunted Americans for generations: What will happen to me or my family, physically and financially, should one of us have a serious or catastrophic health care event? What kind of people vote to scuttle ACA knowing they have yet to craft a replacement plan for those who would suddenly be without health care? Are these legislators so insulated from the precariousness experienced by most Americans whose only recourse has been the emergency room? Or find health care denied them due to a pre-existing condition? And not to forget those individuals desperate for a policy but find them unaffordable? And yet conservatives are on a single-minded mission — not to improve the Affordable Care Act but to eliminate it — knowing full well what it would mean if they are successful. And still they vote, cynically, cravenly, again and again, a surreal Groundhog Day exercise in futility that seems strangely malevolent. Regardless of the failed votes in the House, the Republicans now believe they have found a thread that they can pull to unravel ACA. It has to do with the language in the law regarding subsidies. As reported in Mother Jones newspaper, a cohort of conservative lawyers from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a right-leaning think tank, funded by, among others, the Koch brothers, and supported by the American Enterprise Institute, met at a conference and constructed a strategy designed to challenge in a lawsuit the use of subsidies (which are an integral part of ACA). Backstory: At the outset, states were encouraged to set up health care exchanges (an insurance marketplace) that would offer tax subsidies to those who financially could not qualify for a health care plan. If states chose not to set up their own exchanges, the federal government would create them to include, of course, subsidies. The argument proffered by CEI’s lawyers is that the intention of the health care law, as written (we are now in the weeds of legal logic), was for states and states alone to offer subsidies and not the federal government. Those states (some 34) that have federal exchanges are therefore offering subsidies illegally. That’s the thread. They want to use the act’s imprecise language (though the intent is clear) as a wedge to mortally wound ACA. The attorneys for CEI then filed a lawsuit (King v. Burwell) to challenge the clause. Of course, they had to find plaintiffs who would be willing to claim that they had standing in the suit. In other words, they would swear they had been harmed by ACA and the mandate requiring them to obtain health insurance, even if they qualified for subsidies. The lawyers for CEI found four individuals. And what a group they are: A woman who gave her address as a motel, but can no longer be found and once referred to President Obama as “the anti-Christ,” insisting he got elected because he got all of his Muslim friends to vote for him; a 64-year-old man, a Vietnam veteran, on the cusp of Medicare and likely eligible for V.A. health care; another man, a limo driver, 64, also soon eligible for Medicare or V.A. care; and a woman, 64, who, as reported by Mother Jones, seemed completely unaware of the implications of the lawsuit. Two of the four also qualify for hardship exemptions, meaning the cost of an ACA policy would be more than 8 percent of their gross income; they can happily choose to go bare. The case unsuccessfully wound its way through the lower courts but, against all expectations, will be heard by the Supreme Court. Oral arguments are slated for early March. Should the court agree they have standing and find for the plaintiffs and the CEI lawyers, subsidies will be eliminated from the federal exchanges and some 8.2 million Americans will be unable to afford to purchase health care insurance, forcing them to withdraw from ACA. In effect, the Act would be severely damaged (the cost of policies would soar by at least 35 percent). The objective of the Republicans in the House would be achieved without a 57th vote. The question still unanswered: why? Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for the Tidings Posted Feb. 23, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Feb 23, 2015 at 1:08 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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