Obamacare needs a scalpel, not an ax

The Supreme Court's "Obamacare" decision eased the health-care anxiety of millions of Americans and solidified President Barack Obama's legacy.

But the other side didn't lose, either.

The decision saved Republican opponents of the Affordable Care Act from the job of fixing what would have been broken had the court thrown out subsidies for those who don't get their insurance through state exchanges. And let's face it, the opponents don't have much in their tool kit.

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Had the court denied subsidies to 6.4 million people in the 34 states that use the federal exchange, including more than 126,000 in Arizona, the pressure would have been intense for Congress to avert the anticipated chaos. Our state's leaders' hands would have been severely tied because of a law passed and signed this year prohibiting the establishment of a state exchange.

Republicans who railed against the law since it was passed are not ready with an alternative plan. The grasping for ideas was such that some suggested a temporary patch to extend Obamacare until a GOP president could dismantle it.

Talk about kicking the can down the road.

The nation deserves better.

Republicans opposed to Obamacare have not come up with a feasible alternative. But they would have been called on to produce one pronto had the court invalidated subsidies for people in federally-run exchanges.

This court decision saved them. It also gave them a reality check.

It's one thing to oppose an idea and fight a good fight against it. It's something else to keep up the battle for years and use obstructionism as a political rallying cry.

Enough.

The Affordable Care Act has survived two Supreme Court challenges, not to mention all those votes in Congress. It was a central issue in the 2012 presidential election.

The law is extending health insurance to 16.4 million people, according to March figures from the government. It's based on a Republican idea signed into law by Mitt Romney while he served as governor of Massachusetts. It's not perfect, but improving it makes far more sense than trying to kill it.

In this case, opponents were asking the court to eviscerate the law based on a careless phrase that could be read to limit subsidies to those on state-run exchanges.

The court applied simple common sense by looking at the entirety of the law.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the 6-3 majority that "Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them."

A too-strict reading of the language without considering the context of the entire law "could well push a state's individual insurance market into a death spiral."

He said it was "implausible" that Congress intended that to happen when it passed the law.

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This is the second time that Roberts, a conservative, has led the court in upholding key provisions of Obamacare. It's time other conservatives act like adults and accept that this law is here to stay.

That doesn't mean the job is done.

A law this big requires monitoring, refining and improving. There are plenty of provisions that irk those on the right and left. Fixing the law is an appropriate job for Congress, one that was always anticipated until Republicans made it clear they had not interest in tweaks.

It's time for the GOP to drop "repeal and replace" and turn instead to "retain and refine."

Supreme Court's term draws to a close: