If Supreme Court Throws Out Mandate, Still an Expansion in Insured Americans

If the Supreme Court decides to strike down only the individual health insurance mandate when it rules on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act later this month, there will likely still be an expansion in the number of insured Americans, according to a MarketWatch report.
However, the projected number of new enrollees — 15 million — will be much less than the projected 27 million newly insured Americans added to plans, should the individual mandate remain intact.
If the Supreme Court throws out the individual mandate but keeps the rest of the healthcare law, uninsured people could either join an expanded Medicaid program or receive government subsidies to help pay for private insurance. That would leave insurance companies having to insure everyone who applies, regardless of pre-existing conditions, which may drive up health insurance premiums.

Does the Obama Administration Have a Plan B if Court Strikes PPACA?

With the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act days away, it’s unclear how the Obama Administration will react should the court overturn part or all of the healthcare law.
But a recent New Yorker report offers a glimpse into how the administration may be thinking behind closed doors.
In the report, a former White House aide says, should the High Court strike down the healthcare law, “the [Administration's] strategy is to just go on the offensive and say, ‘look at Citizens United, look at the healthcare decision, look at Bush v. Gore. We have an out-of-control activist court and Romney will make it worse. That’s Plan A. Plan B is nothing.”
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said the White House will be “ready” for any ruling the Supreme Court makes on the healthcare law, but has yet to provide specifics of how the administration will respond if the court overturns the law.