EDITORIAL: Clever tactic to kill Obamacare

Nov. 18--Despite their inability to fulfill their voters' wishes earlier this year, congressional Republicans might have finally found a way to undo the Affordable Care Act -- and if successful, they may have to thank a man they once criticized for making the law possible: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Senate Republicans added to their version of the tax-reform bill a repeal of Obamacare's mandate for individual Americans to buy health insurance. This wrinkle will touch off a fierce debate, because it threatens the law's continued existence. But it's a debate the GOP should welcome, since its strategy is rooted in turning the tables on the argument that helped breathe life into the Affordable Care Act.

According to 2016 data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a healthcare policy think tank, about half of Americans receive coverage through their employers' plan. Another 36 percent obtain coverage through Medicare or Medicaid. Another 7 percent purchase individual plans, primarily through Obamacare exchanges. The rest are uninsured.

People who fail to buy insurance must pay a penalty. The maximum is $2,085. But the IRS reported earlier this year that the amount typically runs far lower. In 2016, the average penalty was $470, with 70 percent of the 6.5 million Americans who paid it ponying up less than $500.

Comparatively, CNBC reported earlier this year that an individual paid $321 a month on average for insurance. Those covered on the Obamacare state exchanges paid more, about $408 a month, according to The Hill.

Thus, many people find it cheaper to pay the government's penalty than buy coverage. That defeats the core rationale behind Obamacare: that everyone must purchase insurance in order to create a large enough financial pool to cover the sickest among us.

From Obamacare's birth in 2010, opponents attacked the individual mandate as unconstitutional because the federal government forced Americans to buy a product.

An ensuing battle went to the Supreme Court. In June 2012 a 5-4 majority declared the individual mandate was, in fact, a tax.

At the time Republicans were shocked and dismayed by Roberts' siding with the court's liberal justices.

But the five years of melancholy may soon end.

Opponents of the GOP's maneuver point to a Congressional Budget Office analysis that says insurance premiums could climb 10 percent if the mandate is repealed, and that 13 million people may lose their coverage over the next 10 years -- coverage they were forced to buy, we would add.

Yet the CBO also says the government could save $338 billion over the next decade.

Bundling the repeal as tax reform might be the cleverest idea the Republicans have come up with yet to achieve this goal.

It will be interesting to watch how Democrats battle this: Will they favor higher taxes or continue to force Americans to buy a product whose price keeps spiraling upward?

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