By Ryan Brown
In an unexpected blow to Obamacare, a federal appeals court has ruled against the federal health care exchange, HealthCare.gov, saying it may be violating the mandates of the Affordable Care Act.
In essence, the court’s decision attacks the Obama administration for creating a nation-wide system for delivering health care subsidies when the law, known commonly as Obamacare, only allows for subsidies to be distributed in state-based health care marketplaces.
Fox News contributor and author Dr. Ben Carson said that he isn’t surprised by the court’s decision.
“This is completely what I’ve expected, and there will be more revelations as time goes on,” he says.
Carson went on to say that he feels this is emblematic of the administration’s desire to simply take control of the situation and do what they want.
“The Obama administration has been, along with the Internal Revenue Service, saying they could do almost anything they wanted. It states very specifically in the law, the ACA, that subsidies were going to come through the state exchanges. And many of the states decided that they were not going to set up these exchanges. The administration decided to give them subsidies anyway. Well, it doesn’t say that. That’s not part of the law,” says Carson.
Though the decision is almost guaranteed to face an appeal by the administration, it’s reach is quite expansive. 36 states haven’t yet set up state-based health care marketplaces. That means Obamacare enrollees in those 36 states may have received subsidies illegally.
Even though the court’s decision is considered a blow against Obamacare, the likelihood of it having any power to fully derail Obamacare is slim.
