Afternoon Must-Read: Brian Buetler: Repealing Obamacare Would Be Immoral

…Strain also notes that conservatives might ‘have their way with Obamacare’ if ‘the Supreme Court deals it a death blow.’… [Strain’s] wishing for this outcome is morally dubious, and Strain’s counterclaim is unusually weak. ‘In a world of scarce resources, a slightly higher mortality rate is an acceptable price to pay for certain goals–including more cash for other programs, such as those that help the poor; less government coercion and more individual liberty; more health-care choice for consumers…. Such choices are inevitable. They are made all the time.’ This argument about ends is concise, unobjectionable, and completely unresponsive to the situation at hand. If the Supreme Court eliminates ACA subsidies… the federal government will indeed spend less…. But none of the other tradeoffs Strain lists will happen… [no] programs that help the poor… individual liberty will not increase… a wider array of health plans will not materialize. Millions will lose their coverage, insurance markets will collapse…. The moral implications of this outcome are hideous…