Another Legal Threat to Obamacare

After the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act last June, Senator Jim DeMint and Representative Michele Bachmann wrote Republican governors, urging them to refuse to establish ACA-prescribed “exchanges”—statewide health insurance markets—for small businesses and individuals not covered by employer-sponsored health plans. At the time, it seemed unlikely that many governors would follow this cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face advice, since the ACA directs the Federal government to step in and run an exchange for states if they opt out. Hence, no real harm to the ACA, just to Republican governors and legislators, who would lose credit for a valuable constituent service. But Tea Partiers have kept up their resist-resist-resist drumbeat, and over half the states have stuck with the refusenik option.