THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

The Republican Party has Obamacare just where it wants it, sort of. SCOTUS is currently considering a ludicrous suit that, once the Federalist Society termites on the bench get done with twisting and torturing the law involved, should cut the heart out of Obamacare. The problem for the Republicans is that to do so, they have to cut through the heart of their own voters who have finally gotten health insurance that they can afford, and will lose it if the Court decides the Republican way. And while many speak in grand generalities, who are the people getting screwed?

Terry Brewster’s years of construction work have begun to take their toll on his 5-foot, 4-inch, 118-pound body.

A torn rotator cuff that requires surgery and nagging rheumatoid arthritis have left Brewster, 56, of Little River, S.C., in near-constant pain.

Fortunately, his marketplace health coverage under the Affordable Care Act allows Brewster to get arthritis medication, pain pills and even his high blood pressure medicine for about $20 per month.

Federal subsidies, in the form of tax credits, pay roughly $400 toward his monthly premium, leaving Brewster with a payment of just $119 per month for coverage.

“It’s been a blessing to me,” he said of the financial assistance. “I’ve been able to go to specialists that I desperately need to go to. Other people can knock it, or whatever, but for $119, I’ve got coverage.”

At least for now.

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether the subsidies can continue for 6.4 million people in 34 states who use the federal insurance marketplace at HealthCare.gov...

If the Supreme Court terminates the subsidies, and most of the 4.1 million Southern plan members drop their coverage as experts predict, it could reverse the largest net increase in Southern health coverage since enactment of Medicare and Medicaid some 50 years ago.

“The cruelest thing is to give someone something and then take it back,” said Dr. Gary Wiltz, CEO of the Teche Action Clinic, a community health center in rural Franklin, La. “You’re talking about people who now have the ease of mind of knowing that they have health coverage and they’re not one accident or illness away from bankruptcy or financial devastation, which happened to a lot of our (uninsured) patients. They got ill and had to go to the emergency room and they got stuck with $10,000 or $20,000 medical bills.”

Brewster didn’t know about the upcoming court decision that will determine whether he gets the shoulder surgery he needs. But he does know he can’t afford his insurance or the operation if the court strips him of his subsidies.

“My life will be ruined, wrecked, totally wrecked,” Brewster said of possibly losing coverage. “You go through all these procedures, you get what you need, you do what your doctor says, what the specialist says, everything like that. You get down to the bottom line of being able to get something done. And then this? It’s very scary.”

Some Republican politicians are scared of this, but most would happily walk on the dead bodies of those who would lose their insurance if the can strip that black guy in the White House if his greatest triumph. In this regard they re very much like their Middle Eastern counterparts, DAESH.