WASHINGTON (AP) — If the Supreme Court rules the way most Republicans want in the latest health overhaul case, GOP lawmakers who now have insurance coverage under President Barack Obama’s law may wind up with some explaining to do.
Members of Congress, staffers and dependents actually get their health insurance under a little-known provision of “Obamacare.” But if the Supreme Court strikes down government health care subsidies for millions of people in more than 30 states, legal and benefits experts say coverage for lawmakers from those states won’t be affected.
It could be a politically painful unintended consequence.
“That won’t look good, will it?” said Walt Francis, author of an annual guide to the federal employee health benefits program.
About 15,000 congressional staffers, lawmakers and dependents in Washington and around the country get their health insurance through the Washington, D.C., small business exchange, an online market created by the District of Columbia government under the federal health care law.
