King v. Burwell and the Mandates

If the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell are successful, an Obama Administration rule granting certain premium tax credits to those who obtain insurance through federal health care “exchanges” will be struck down. Absent action by the federal government or states, a ruling for the plaintiffs and against the Obama Administration would mean that individuals for whom insurance coverage became a greater out-of-pocket expense (exceeding 8 percent of their income in any given month) without the premium support tax credit would become exempt from the individual mandate. Furthermore, employers in states that refused to set up Obamacare exchanges would be exempt from the employer mandate because no federal outlays would be made to trigger the penalty. King is a consequential initial step on the road toward dismantling and replacing the ill-considered Obamacare statutory scheme.