How Congress And President Obama Can Win After King v. Burwell

A congressional response to King v. Burwell will be successful if President Obama signs a bill making at least one permanent change to the law that removes at least one of Obamacare’s harmful effects.

This proposal contains reforms in six buckets, which can be adopted independently or comprehensively:

• Reforming Obamacare tax credits for premiums to reduce disincentives for beneficiaries to work more hours and increase their incomes.
• Combine Obamacare tax credits and cost sharing subsidies so beneficiaries can decide themselves how much to pay directly for health goods and services versus how much to pay in premium to health insurers.
• Allow beneficiaries to buy health insurance from brokers or agents, instead of the broken exchanges, and receive tax credits through the IRS directly.
• Remove federal mandates on health insurance, such as age bands and mandated benefits, which increase cost.
• Remove the mandates on individuals and employers to purchase government-compliant health insurance.
• Combine these reforms with reforms unrelated to King v. Burwell or even Obamacare itself, in order to increase the likelihood of winning the president’s signature.

Read the entire special publication at the National Center for Policy Analysis.