TUCSON, Ariz., June 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the U.S. Supreme Court is about to hand down a decision that might rule Affordable Care Act (ACA or "ObamaCare") subsidies illegal in 37 states, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) urges Congress to let them expire.
"Congressional Republicans are looking for a 'bridge,' a temporary extension as a 'safety net' for about 6.5 million people whose subsidies may be found illegal," explained AAPS executive director Jane M. Orient, M.D. "They hope that might get the President to sign a bill that also does some good things like repealing the federal mandates."
The end to subsidies would help far more people than it could hurt, she states. Millions of people would be freed from ACA penalties and costly mandates—without the President's signing any new bill. These requirements are tied to the mandates.
Should all the people in 37 states be forced to buy Obamacare or pay a penalty so 6.5 million people in those states can receive subsidies? Twila Brase of the Citizen's Council for Health Freedom also asks: "Would you rather be able to work more hours and have more job opportunities or let the 6.5 million people keep their illegal subsidies?"
If subsidies are threatened, there will likely be television ads showing people who are in the middle of cancer treatment, Orient notes. The media blitz will be paid for by special interests—the ones benefiting directly from the "safety net": such as insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.
"It would be far less expensive to buy actual care for the few who need it than to subsidize outrageously expensive, mandate-larded coverage for all," she stated.
"Those who don't need care will have more money if they drop coverage they don't like and might not have bought, despite subsidies, if ObamaCare didn't threaten to punish them."
States have the option of licensing low-cost, true insurance plans that are not ACA-compliant. And such plans might have a burgeoning market if millions of potential customers were free of ObamaCare threats.
According to a Heritage Foundation survey, 69 percent agree that "passing new legislation to continue the Obamacare subsidies doesn't fix the problem—it just prolongs it."
ACA is now the total responsibility of Democrats. But if Republicans enact subsidies, they will be blamed when the new subsidies expire, the poll showed.
"The Court may hand states and their citizens an exit pass," Orient writes. "They would be foolish to trade it for the poisonous bait of subsidies to insurers."
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943 to preserve private medicine and the patient-physician relationship.