Responding to King v. Burwell decision, Jeb Bush calls for “repeal and replace” of ACA

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Jeb Bush expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. Supreme Court decision that tax subsidies are still available to all those enrolled in an Obamacare plan, through either a state or the federal health insurance exchange.

In a 6-3 ruling Thursday, the court affirmed the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in King v. Burwell. The decision is seen as a major victory for Barack Obama’s administration.

Bush, campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, repeated his vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act if elected. He contends patients should be in charge of their own decisions, and health care reform should “actually lower costs.”

“I am disappointed by today’s Supreme Court ruling in the King v. Burwell case,” the former Florida governor said in a statement. “But this decision is not the end of the fight against Obamacare.”

The Obamacare challenge would have jeopardized nearly 1.28 million Floridians who signed up for health care through the federal exchange and received tax credits. Thirty-four states, including Florida, declined to create the exchanges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 6-in-10 Americans (59.4 percent) live in states that chose not to set up their own insurance exchanges under the ACA.

“This fatally flawed law imposes job-killing mandates, causes spending in Washington to skyrocket by $1.7 trillion, raises taxes by $1 trillion and drives up health care costs,” Bush said. “Instead of fixing our health care system, it made the problems worse.

“As president of the United States, I would make fixing our broken health care system one of my top priorities. I will work with Congress to repeal and replace this flawed law with conservative reforms that empower consumers with more choices and control over their health care decisions.

“Entrepreneurs should be freed to lower costs and improve access to care – just like American ingenuity does in other sectors of the economy. … Americans deserve leadership that can actually fix our broken health care system, and they are certainly not getting it now from Washington, D.C.”