Hatch previews Republican 'blame Obama' strategy if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare

Remember how Sen. Orrin Hatch is part of a Republican working group of senators supposedly coming up with some kind of Obamacare replacement plan? Here's how seriously he's taking that role. On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell testified at a Senate hearing, and had this exchange with Hatch.

Ms. Burwell declined to say Wednesday during the Senate Finance Committee hearing whether the Obama administration has devised a contingency plan if plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case prevail and subsidies are struck down. "Right now, what I'm focused on is open enrollment," she said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) said the Obama administration needs to "get on top of" developing contingency plans.

"On the policy front, the administration needs to be up front to Congress about their contingency plans if the King v. Burwell case is not decided in its favor," said Mr. Hatch.

So what's Hatch doing to "get on top of" an Obamacare replacement plan, or even what would be an extremely simple legislative fix on the subsidies issue? Nothing so far. What's more, he apparently intends to do nothing. He and his fellow Republicans have had five years to come up with a legislative alternative to Obamacare. Five years. Nearly 60 repeal votes. A Republican House majority, and now a Republican Senate majority. And zero progress in creating a healthcare plan.

But that's probably President Obama's fault, too. Somehow.