![\"Many](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/credit-miami-herald.jpg\")
<\/a>Some who signed up for Oba\u00admacare cov\u00ader\u00adage had been unin\u00adsured for years. That cov\u00ader\u00adage could unrav\u00adel if the Supreme Court rules next month that the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion unlaw\u00adful\u00adly sub\u00adsi\u00addized their cov\u00ader\u00adage. [Cred\u00adit: Mia\u00admi Herald]<\/p><\/div>For 20 years, I was afraid. Afraid of get\u00adting sick and not hav\u00ading health insur\u00adance. But when I got can\u00adcer, I final\u00adly had a health plan that I could afford. With\u00adout it, I wouldn\u2019t be here\u2026I\u2019ll always remem\u00adber how afford\u00adable health care saved my life. I believe every\u00adone deserves the same chance I had. Don\u2019t you?<\/em> Julie<\/a>, the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist of a recent ad pro\u00admot\u00ading Obamacare\n The Supreme Court next month will issue a rul\u00ading that could result in Julie los\u00ading the health insur\u00adance cov\u00ader\u00adage she feels she deserves.<\/p>\n At issue is whether the IRS<\/span> act\u00aded unlaw\u00adful\u00adly in extend\u00ading tens of bil\u00adlions of dol\u00adlars in sub\u00adsi\u00addies to an esti\u00admat\u00aded 7.5 mil\u00adlion<\/a> Amer\u00adi\u00adcans and in col\u00adlect\u00ading bil\u00adlions in tax penal\u00adties from mil\u00adlions of unin\u00adsured peo\u00adple. The law cre\u00adat\u00ading Oba\u00admacare autho\u00adrizes these sub\u00adsi\u00addies and penal\u00adties only in states that have estab\u00adlished their own health insur\u00adance exchanges. Julie lives in Ten\u00adnessee, one of 34 states that have not done so. She obtained cov\u00ader\u00adage through an exchange estab\u00adlished by HHS<\/span>, not by her state.<\/p>\n A deci\u00adsion that strikes down sub\u00adsi\u00addies in those 34 states would con\u00adfront Repub\u00adli\u00adcans with a crit\u00adi\u00adcal moment. It would, on the one hand, deal a crip\u00adpling blow to the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion and its star-crossed law. On the oth\u00ader, Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Gov\u00ader\u00adnors and Mem\u00adbers of Con\u00adgress would face some very stark choic\u00ades on what to do about Julie and mil\u00adlions like her.<\/p>\n The Pres\u00adi\u00addent will demand a do-over. He signed a defec\u00adtive law and has admin\u00adis\u00adtered it law\u00adless\u00adly and with breath\u00adtak\u00ading incom\u00adpe\u00adtence. But don\u2019t expect an apol\u00ado\u00adgy. Instead, he will rail against the Court for call\u00ading out his ille\u00adgal impro\u00advi\u00adsa\u00adtions and insist that Con\u00adgress rewrite the law to retroac\u00adtive\u00adly legit\u00adimize his ille\u00adgit\u00adi\u00admate actions.<\/p>\n Con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal Repub\u00adli\u00adcans are not inclined to go along. Most will like\u00adly favor pro\u00advid\u00ading some sort of tran\u00adsi\u00adtion\u00adal assis\u00adtance to Julie, though the form this tran\u00adsi\u00adtion takes and where the tran\u00adsi\u00adtion should lead remains the sub\u00adject of ongo\u00ading dis\u00adcus\u00adsion<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives can be expect\u00aded to resist pro\u00advid\u00ading even tran\u00adsi\u00adtion\u00adal relief. They argue that restor\u00ading sub\u00adsi\u00addies in those 34 states also would rein\u00adstate the employ\u00ader man\u00addate and the tax on the unin\u00adsured, pro\u00advi\u00adsions they find espe\u00adcial\u00adly odi\u00adous. If the Supreme Court has effec\u00adtive\u00adly repealed Oba\u00admacare in most states, why should Con\u00adgress un-repeal it?<\/p>\n Julie pro\u00advides a poignant answer. She did noth\u00ading unlaw\u00adful when she enrolled in sub\u00adsi\u00addized cov\u00ader\u00adage the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion unlaw\u00adful\u00adly pro\u00advid\u00aded. She relied in good faith on her government\u2019s men\u00adda\u00adcious promis\u00ades, promis\u00ades the Supreme Court might force the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion to break. She and mil\u00adlions like her would be vic\u00adtims of Obamacare\u2019s shod\u00addy draft\u00ading and ham-hand\u00aded imple\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion. Sure\u00adly, Con\u00adgress should grant her relief.<\/p>\n And yet there is some\u00adthing that ran\u00adkles about Julie\u2019s sto\u00adry. It\u2019s unclear why she chose to \u201cbe afraid\u201d for 20 years rather than buy health insur\u00adance. It may be that she and her hus\u00adband have had an incred\u00adi\u00adble run of bad luck \u2013 unable to hold steady employ\u00adment, per\u00adhaps, or refused cov\u00ader\u00adage by health insur\u00aders. Still, 20 years is an awful\u00adly long time to go with\u00adout health insur\u00adance, espe\u00adcial\u00adly when var\u00adi\u00adous gov\u00adern\u00adment sur\u00adveys<\/a> show that spells of unin\u00adsur\u00adance typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly last less than a year.<\/p>\n Regard\u00adless of whether her lack of insur\u00adance was due to mis\u00adfor\u00adtune, bad choic\u00ades or a bit of both, she has health cov\u00ader\u00adage now. That por\u00adtion of her sto\u00adry is gen\u00aduine\u00adly uplift\u00ading and her courage to sur\u00advive can\u00adcer and share her strug\u00adgle with the world should inspire oth\u00aders who are bat\u00adtling life-threat\u00aden\u00ading ill\u00adness\u00ades. Insur\u00adance paid for her can\u00adcer treat\u00adment, which evi\u00addent\u00adly put the dis\u00adease into remis\u00adsion. Oba\u00admacare \u201csaved her life.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, sort of. It is far more accu\u00adrate to say that her fel\u00adlow cit\u00adi\u00adzens saved her life. How\u00adev\u00ader it came about, Julie is a free rid\u00ader. While the rest of us paid our health insur\u00adance pre\u00admi\u00adums whether or not we required med\u00adical care, Julie didn\u2019t pay a dime for two decades. She enrolled when she was sick and even then paid pre\u00admi\u00adums that didn\u2019t begin to cov\u00ader the costs of her treat\u00adment, costs she dumped on oth\u00aders. The pre\u00admi\u00adums she pays for insur\u00adance in the future will not off\u00adset the risks she impos\u00ades, forc\u00ading oth\u00aders in her insur\u00adance pool to pay an unfair\u00adly high rate so that she can pay an unfair\u00adly low one. And if she and her husband\u2019s earn\u00adings qual\u00adi\u00adfy her for assis\u00adtance, her fel\u00adlow Amer\u00adi\u00adcans will pay at least a por\u00adtion \u2013 and per\u00adhaps the lion\u2019s share \u2013 of her pre\u00admi\u00adums for her.<\/p>\n Julie may not have con\u00adsid\u00adered that oth\u00ader peo\u00adple are pay\u00ading her way. If she did, she might feel a mix\u00adture of grat\u00adi\u00adtude and embar\u00adrass\u00adment \u2013 grat\u00adi\u00adtude for hav\u00ading been giv\u00aden life-sav\u00ading treat\u00adment worth hun\u00addreds of thou\u00adsands of dol\u00adlars at oth\u00ader people\u2019s expense and embar\u00adrass\u00adment for hav\u00ading gone 20 years with\u00adout pay\u00ading pre\u00admi\u00adums that would have helped finance treat\u00adment for others.<\/p>\n Per\u00adhaps she does. The ad, how\u00adev\u00ader, con\u00adveys none of this. It might more prop\u00ader\u00adly have been a mea cul\u00adpa<\/em>: \u201cI am deeply grate\u00adful to you for sub\u00adsi\u00addiz\u00ading my insur\u00adance pre\u00admi\u00adums now that I am run\u00adning up med\u00adical bills that far exceed those pre\u00admi\u00adums. You have been very good to me, and though I\u2019m a bit ashamed of tak\u00ading advan\u00adtage of you, I will con\u00adtin\u00adue to do so. Thank you!\u201d<\/p>\n But the ad sounds no note of grat\u00adi\u00adtude, much less shame. Julie is por\u00adtrayed as believ\u00ading that she \u201cdeserves\u201d to have oth\u00ader peo\u00adple pay for her treat\u00adment. \u201cEvery\u00adone\u201d deserves that, she says. But, of course, \u201cevery\u00adone\u201d can\u2019t shift their costs to some\u00adone else. Some\u00adone gets stuck with them.<\/p>\n The thought that Julie\u2019s enti\u00adtle\u00adment comes at oth\u00ader people\u2019s expense seems for\u00adeign to the peo\u00adple who script\u00aded the ad. It has become an under\u00adly\u00ading assump\u00adtion of our pol\u00adi\u00adtics that peo\u00adple who make bad life deci\u00adsions deserve to have oth\u00ader peo\u00adple bear the cost of mit\u00adi\u00adgat\u00ading the con\u00adse\u00adquences of those decisions.<\/p>\n You can nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless count me among those who believe the gov\u00adern\u00adment should pro\u00advide tran\u00adsi\u00adtion\u00adal assis\u00adtance to Julie \u2013 not because she deserves it, but because she shouldn\u2019t be penal\u00adized for her detri\u00admen\u00adtal reliance on an unre\u00adli\u00adable gov\u00adern\u00adment. That tran\u00adsi\u00adtion should lead away from the ill-con\u00adceived and bun\u00adgled fed\u00ader\u00adal reg\u00adu\u00adla\u00adto\u00adry tan\u00adgle known as Oba\u00admacare and toward a sys\u00adtem designed and run by the states<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wash\u00ading\u00adton has made a hash of health care. But that does\u00adn\u2019t mean that gov\u00adern\u00adment should aban\u00addon the project of reform\u00ading our med\u00adical sys\u00adtem. Those reforms are best car\u00adried out by the states. The fed\u00ader\u00adal gov\u00adern\u00adment should pro\u00advide states the resources and the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to replace Oba\u00admacare with some\u00adthing bet\u00adter<\/a>,<\/span> some\u00adthing that is fair both to Julie and to those who are pay\u00ading her med\u00adical bills.<\/p>\n We deserve that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For 20 years, I was afraid. Afraid of get\u00adting sick and not hav\u00ading health insur\u00adance. But when I got can\u00adcer, I final\u00adly had a health plan that I could afford. With\u00adout it, I wouldn\u2019t be here\u2026I\u2019ll always remem\u00adber how afford\u00adable \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading