People can’t just be left “hanging” if the Supreme Court invalidates federal Obamacare subsidies in a lawsuit challenging a key part of the healthcare law, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Monday during a conference call with press.
In March, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts was conspicuously quiet during oral arguments in King v. Burwell, the case before the high court that’s threatening to cripple Obamacare through gutting the federal subsidies 7 million Americans receive through the law. Roberts is seen as a key swing vote in the case.
Fiorina said she thinks the government could help with block grants for healthcare “or other ways.”
“We need to push decision-making closer to the people affected by it. We need people to feel accountable. Regarding the upcoming Supreme Court decision, I know that we certainly cannot leave people hanging and I have confidence that they are working on a plan in Congress now,” Fiorina said. “I’m not sure if it is the plan that I would put forward, but I’m confident that they’re working on a plan.”
Republican lawmakers have been vowing to come up with an alternative should the high court invalidate the subsidies crucial to President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. But interviews done with a dozen Republican lawmakers and aides by TPM earlier in the year suggested that they aren’t anywhere near to coming up with an alternative.
TPM reached out to Fiorina’s presidential campaign for more information on what alternative she would like to see.
