President Defends No Obamacare Backup Plan Ahead of Court Case

In an interview Monday, President Barack Obama defended his Administration not having a backup plan ready to go if the Supreme Court rules against a key part of his signature health care law.

The court is set to hear oral arguments in the case of King v. Burwell this week, which challenges whether people who sign up for health insurance through federal exchanges are eligible for tax subsidies. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell recently acknowledged there was no contingency plan if the court rules against the Affordable Care Act this session, meaning millions of Americans could lose their insurance.

The case should be “a pretty straightforward case of statutory interpretation,” Obama told Reuters, despite Republicans jumping on the prospect of the law being struck down. “There is, in our view, not a plausible legal basis for striking it down,” he added. “If they rule against us, we’ll have to take a look at what our options are. But I’m not going to anticipate that. I’m not going to anticipate bad law.”

Read more at Reuters.