If the Supreme Court rules in an impending decision to strip away Obamacare subsidies in more than 30 states, most Americans believe Congress should pass a law to ensure that people in all states can be eligible for financial health assistance from the government, according to a new poll by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
Sixty-three percent of respondents said Congress should pass a law to ensure health insurance subsidies are available in all states, while 26 percent said Congress should not act on the issue, and 12 percent said they don't know or refused to answer.
Breaking it down among political affiliation, 80 percent of Democrats supported congressional intervention, as did 66 percent of independents and 38 percent of Republicans.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule by the end of this month on a legal challenge brought by conservative activists who argue that a strict reading of the Affordable Care Act law makes subsidies available only in the 13 states (and the District of Columbia) that established their own insurance marketplaces through the law.
The Obama administration, along with the law's congressional architects, maintain that the law was clearly intended to make subsidies available in every state.
If the Supreme Court sides with the conservative challengers on the King v. Burwell case, some 6.4 million people are expected to lose insurance coverage, according to Reuters.
The administration wouldn't have the executive authority to reinstate the subsidies, and would have to rely on congressional action, Reuters reported. Congress could craft a one-page bill clarifying that aid is available in all states, but Republicans have indicated they won't support such an effort unless major changes are made to the health law, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Kaiser poll also found that seven in 10 Americans say they have only heard a little or nothing at all about the court case. Forty-four percent of respondents had heard nothing at all about the court case, while 28 percent said they've only heard a little.
The poll was conducted between June 2 and 9 among 1,200 adults, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
