Hatch Promises Contingency Plans For Obamacare ‘In The Coming Days’

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, speaks about health care at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. A Republican drive to repeal the year-old health care law ended in party-line defeat in the Senate on Wednesda... Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, speaks about health care at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. A Republican drive to repeal the year-old health care law ended in party-line defeat in the Senate on Wednesday, leaving the Supreme Court to render a final, unpredictable verdict on an issue steeped in political and constitutional controversy. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said Monday that he will unveil contingency plans for Obamacare if the Supreme Court invalidates premium tax credits in some three-dozen states this summer.

“In the coming days I will release details on a short-term solution for those Americans that may be affected by the decision in King [v. Burwell], should it go the way I think it should go. That solution will address immediate concerns and set the stage for a more permanent fix in the future,” he said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research and advocacy group.

Oral arguments in the case are March 4, and the justices will meet privately on March 6 to cast their votes. Time is short, and Republicans feel the need to convey to Chief Justice John Roberts that they’ll be ready to act if the Court guts the subsidies, which could harm millions of Americans financially and shock the health care system.

Hatch didn’t offer specifics. The larger question will be whether the GOP can coalesce around his plan.

It won’t be an easy task. Republicans for years have struggled to rally around an alternative to Obamacare. Hatch suggested that the party won’t be able to enact its health care solutions until the country elects a GOP president.

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