Viewpoints: ‘Second-Class’ Patients; Oklahoma And Medicaid Expansion; Congress And Opioids

Bloomberg:
Oops! Obamacare Runs Afoul Of The Constitution

District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer has ruled for Congress in House v. Burwell, a case challenging the authority of the executive branch to pay Obamacare subsidies for which no money has been appropriated. … What happens if the House argument is ultimately upheld, and Department of Health and Human Services is told it can’t pay the insurance companies? … I have to assume that participation in the exchanges, already low among people who do not qualify for large subsidies, will fall even further. And moreover, that it will fall unevenly, with sicker patients remaining on the exchanges while the healthier patients drop their insurance, forcing premiums to rise even further to compensate for the sickness of the pool. (Meghan McArdle, 5/13)