Thursday, September 8, 2011

ObamneyCare©: One step forward, one step back?

A Democrat-appointed, three judge panel shot down Virginia's suit against the Evil Mandate:

"A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Virginia's challenge to President Obama's health care law, saying in a ruling that the state doesn't have a right to bring a lawsuit."

Note that this isn't a ruling on the merits of the mandate itself, simply that Virginia lacks the "standing" to bring such a suit (although it's not clear who or what would have such standing in that case).

Meanwhile, the other legal battles continue their slog toward the SCOTUS.

And speaking of snafu's, FoIB David Hogberg (writing at IBD), has found an interesting (and potentially lethal) financing problem inside ObmamneyCare© itself:

"Because of a quirk in ObamaCare, people who buy health insurance through a federally run exchange may not be eligible for premium subsidies."

As Bob noted yesterday, pricing for these kinds of plans is heavily dependent on government largesse in the form of tax credits. As David notes, though, that subsidy is available only to folks enrolled through state-run Exchanges; those who live in states served by the Fed's version will likely be ruled ineligible.

Gee, wonder if maybe we should have read the bill before they passed it.


[Hat Tip: Michael Cannon]

UPDATE (via Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades): Okay, now I get why the state of Virginia lacked "standing." Basically, it's because the state itself isn't subject to the mandate: its citizens are. And AG Cuccinelli didn't name any actual, you know, citizens as co-plaintiffs.

Ugh.

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