Much as we may decry soundbite thinking and bumper-sticker philosophy, the phrase "four-word fix" should be on every Democrat's lips endlessly if SCOTUS tanks the Affordable Care Act in the coming days.
Will you join me to make this phrase known, spread, and so ubiquitous that even Mitch McConnell and John Boehner will have to repeat it every Sunday?
I will tell you more below that thing.
Like you have not heard a ton about it yet: the petitioners in King v. Burwell are seeking to undo the ACA. The basis for the challenge is in the subsidy provision.
The ACA provides for states to create health insurance exchanges, under section 1311. If a state does not, the Secretary of HHS may do so for the state. Many states have not done so, and so millions of Americans signed up through Healthcare.gov, the federal exchange created by the Secretary.
Subsidies, the part that puts "Affordable" into the Affordable Care Act, are governed by a provision that makes them available to individuals enrolled in exchanges "established by the State under 1311."
So the petitioners are claiming that only people enrolled in state-based exchanges can receive subsidies. Enrollees in the federal exchange should not get subsidies, they argue. The Supreme Court is poised to rule on that challenge. If they go with the petitioners' argument, millions of Americans lose the subsidies and their healthcare coverage.
There is a simple fix. Four words.
Adding the words "or by the Secretary" to the subsidy provision makes the problem go away.
People keep their healthcare.
Over FOUR WORDS.
"FOUR-WORD FIX"
It is easy to say. It does not need much explaining. It contrasts the obstinacy of Republicans with the simplicity of a solution. It is a wonderful shorthand, without damaging our language with a crappy word like "cromnibus" (shudder).
And it is easy to throw at them. "Senator, why do you oppose the four-word fix?"
I understand that 1) it will never happen and 2) nothing in Congress is that simple. But what a weapon in the public discourse.
Let us make that happen