April 15, 2015 Congress just passed a big bipartisan health care bill, overwhelmingly and on a tight timeline. Now, some Democrats might hope the Supreme Court didn’t notice.
Republicans and Democrats defied just about everyone’s expectations by passing a permanent “doc fix” after punting on the issue for more than a decade. Tuesday’s 98-2 vote in the Senate was the kind of thing that isn’t supposed to happen, especially on health care policy, in a gridlocked Congress.
“This bill represents what is possible when members of Congress work together in good faith to accomplish results for the American people, and I am hopeful this is the start of many more bipartisan solutions to come,” Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch said in a statement.
Democrats praised the bill as well, though Kumbaya might not be what they are looking for at the moment—not while Republicans are trying to convince the Supreme Court to blow a massive hole in the Affordable Care Act by promising justices that Congress will be able to patch it up.
The high court is expected to rule this summer on a challenge to Obamacare’s insurance subsidies. A ruling against the Obama administration would unleash tremendous disruption on state insurance markets, and could drive some states’ individual markets to the brink of collapse—unless Republican governors or the Republican-controlled Congress steps in.
