GOP Governor Warns Of Dangers Of Lawsuit Gutting Obamacare Even Though Her State Endorsed It

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin smiles before delivering the State of the State address in Oklahoma City, Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
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There’s a certain irony to an op-ed penned by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) on Monday in which she warns that a possible Supreme Court ruling to invalidate Obamacare subsidies could leave citizens in her state without coverage.

Fallin, in the op-ed titled “If the Supreme Court undermines ‘Obamacare’ exchanges, states need more flexibility,” says Republican governors don’t want people to lose their coverage.

“We want to make sure people are able to keep their health insurance, but many governors do not want to be forced to create a state exchange or see our citizens lose coverage,” Fallin wrote in the piece. “We hope that Congress would offer targeted, temporary relief for people to maintain their current coverage while we work together on free-market, consumer-friendly solutions for the future.”

Here’s the thing: Oklahoma’s attorney general Scott Pruitt (R) actually led a brief on behalf of numerous states agreeing with the plaintiffs in the challenge, King v. Burwell, that the provision at the heart of the case should be gutted. Fallin also rejected expanding Medicaid through Obamacare.

Instead, Fallin argued in the op-ed, there needs to be more flexibility for governors to craft their own healthcare plans to fit their respective states.

“Regardless of the outcome of King v. Burwell, governors need more flexibility to respond to the different needs of their constituents. “One-size-fits-all” approaches to governance are never the best way to deliver positive results,” Fallin wrote. “As policy solutions are created by Congress in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling on King v. Burwell, we encourage options that would allow the states the opportunity to innovate and offer health insurance that better meets the needs of our citizens.”

(H/t: Jeff Young)

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