POLL: Majority Backs SCOTUS Rulings

Via YouGov:

The opposition to legal same-sex marriage is both partisan and generational. Two-thirds of Republicans oppose same-sex marriage, as does a majority of those 65 and older. Two in three Democrats and adults under 30 are in favor. Some of the opposition is clearly religious: 57% of those who say religion is very important to them oppose the ruling (a third approve). Among Catholics, there is a close division with nearly half approving. There is more support in the Northeast and West than there is in the Midwest and South.

But same-sex marriage has already become part of the American landscape. 44% say they know a gay or lesbian married couple. More than half of those with higher incomes and half of women do, but only 29% of African-Americans say they know a gay or lesbian couple that is married. Those who know a same-sex married couple approve of the Court’s ruling by two to one. While many people know a same-sex married couple, only 7% have attended a same-sex wedding. Three times as many Democrats (11%) as Republicans (3%) and eight times as many liberals (16%) as conservatives (2%) have done so.

46% of all Americans say they'd attend a same-sex wedding.

White House: Obamacare Is Here To Stay

GOP Has The Obamacare Sadz

Rending of shirts! Gnashing of teefs! Via The Hill:

The ruling is “an out-of-control act of judicial tyranny,” said presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. It "turns both the rule of law and common sense on its head,” added Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), also a presidential candidate. The court has "vested legislative powers to the executive branch — seriously undermining our Constitution and transforming us further into a nation governed by the rule of rulers," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

Republican lawmakers vowed to keep fighting to repeal ObamaCare and said the battle against the law is far from over. "Today the Supreme Court failed to recognize how terribly flawed President Obama's health care law is for millions of Georgians suffering under the law’s health insurance premium spikes and intrusive mandates,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). “Despite this action by the Supreme Court I will continue to work with my Senate colleagues to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) linked the ruling to what he sees as broader lawlessness from Obama. “The Supreme Court’s decision today further reinforces the fact that in President Obama’s America, the law no longer matters,” he said. “The fight is not over. I will continue working to dismantle the President’s takeover of healthcare.”

Obama Drops The Mic

Bryan Fischer Has The Obamacare Sadz

Obamacare Upheld By SCOTUS!!!

Today COULD Be The Day (Again)

The Supreme Court will issue more rulings today at 10AM.  Still outstanding are decisions on seven cases including Obamacare and same-sex marriage. SCOTUSblog will begin their live-blog at 9AM. Most seem to expect the marriage ruling on Monday, but we never know.

Lawmakers Seek Live Audio For SCOTUS Rulings On Marriage & Obamacare

A bipartisan coalition of Senate and House lawmakers have sent a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts seeking a live audio feed of the rulings on same-sex marriage and Obamacare. Via Roll Call:

The signatories of a new bicameral letter to Roberts include Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley. The Iowa Republican has long joined the Senate’s leader on the letter, Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., in pushing for televised coverage of Supreme Court proceedings. “Given the historic nature of the Supreme Court’s upcoming rulings on same-sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act, among other cases, we write to urge the Court to provide the American people with access to live audio of its court proceedings for the first time,” the letter said. “Today, every American has access to many of the proceedings of the legislative and the executive branches of our government through C-SPAN and live streaming online. However, even in 2015, one branch of our government remains almost completely closed from the public eye: the U.S. Supreme Court. People may disagree on the outcome of any given case, but we can all agree that the American public is better served when all three branches of our government are transparent and accessible.”

The letter's signatories say they are not giving up their request for televised rulings but will settle for audio for now.

SCOTUS Adds Friday To Rulings Schedule

Wut?

Mediaite cackles:

Those six million people risk losing plans provided through Obamacare, because of a conservative Supreme Court challenge that threatens federal subsidies, that have to be provided federally because GOP governors didn’t establish state exchanges. This is like saying the Bill of Rights threatens your civil liberties because they could be challenged in courts. Actually, a one-sentence fix from Congress could in fact salvage the subsidies that would be denied under an unfavorable SCOTUS ruling in King v Burwell, given that the case is over the ambiguities in one sentence of the law.

Insurance Company Ends PrEP Coverage UPDATE: Company Reverses Decision

Poz.com reports:

Assurant Health, a national company specializing in health insurance coverage for individuals and small businesses, will no longer cover the med Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent contracting HIV. Several Assurant customers who had been taking Truvada (comprising the antiretrovirals tenofovir and emtricitabine) as PrEP were recently notified that the insurer would end coverage of the med in July. “Prophylactic treatment is not a covered benefit as listed in the Exclusion Section of your member contract,” read one customer’s notice (see below). “As a courtesy we will allow two additional months of prescription coverage for your Truvada prescription. This means you will continue to receive prescription drug card benefits for Truvada at CVSC Specialty Pharmacy until July 1, 2015.”

Truvada as a daily HIV preventive has been approved by the FDA and endorsed by the CDC. Last week the parent company of Assurant revealed that next year it will either sell or shut down the insurer because they can no longer refuse to cover high-risk patients due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

UPDATE: This just in: "Hello, I wanted to provide the following updated information to you. Here is our statement. We are reversing our decision and will be reaching out to policyholders who received the letter. Thank you, Mary Hinderliter, Vice President, Assurant Health."

Ted Cruz: The Media Is Playing "Gotcha" About My Signing Up For Obamacare

Yesterday Ted Cruz used his lackeys at the Heritage Foundation to whine that the media is playing "gotcha" over his announcement that he will sign up for Obamacare. Mediaite breaks it down:

As Cruz explained, the reason why he has to buy his employer-based health insurance through the federal exchange is because of the Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) amendment that said the only plans made to available to members of Congress with employer contributions must be through those exchanges. He accused President Barack Obama of creating an “illegal exemption” for Congress, which he has no intention of using. Cruz rejected the suggest that following the law is “somehow less than principled.”

However, purchasing health insurance through Obamacare is not Cruz’s only option now that his wife has gone on unpaid leave. For one, he and his family could use the COBRA system to extend her health insurance for up to 18 months, though it would likely cost far more than his employer-based option and has a number of restrictions. And if Cruz doesn’t want to go through the exchange, he has the option to purchase a plan directly from an insurance company. But in that case, he would receive no contribution from his employer — the U.S. government — and would end up paying a higher premium. So, ultimately, Obamacare may be the easiest and cheapest easiest health insurance option for Cruz.

Tweet Of The Day

Ted Cruz: I'm Signing Up For Obamacare Because My Wife Lost Her Insurance

Via the Des Moines Register:

Ted Cruz, one of the loudest critics of Obamacare, will soon be using it for health insurance coverage. "We will presumably go on the exchange and sign up for health care and we're in the process of transitioning over to do that," Cruz, a Republican candidate for president, told The Des Moines Register Tuesday. Cruz's wife, Heidi, is going on an unpaid leave of absence from her job at Goldman Sachs to join Cruz full time on the campaign trail, Cruz told the Register. Asked if it chafes at all to have to rely on Obamacare, Cruz told the Register: "Well, it is written in the law that members will be on the exchanges without subsidies just like millions of Americans so that's – I think the same rules should apply to all of us. Members of Congress should not be exempt." But, Cruz added, he'd still like to see Obamacare repealed in its entirety.

Later today Cruz continued to refuse to acknowledge the irony of his need for Obamacare, telling CNN, "It’s one of the real differences - if you look at President Obama and his lawlessness - if he disagrees with a law he simply refuses to follow it or claims the authority to unilaterally change.”

White House Celebrates Fifth Anniverary Of Affordable Care Act Passage

Via press release:

On the five-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, one thing couldn’t be clearer: This law is working, and in many ways, it’s working even better than anticipated.

After five years of the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million uninsured Americans have gained the security of health insurance – an achievement that has cut the ranks of the uninsured by nearly one third. These aren’t just numbers. Because of this law, there are parents who can finally afford to take their kids to the doctor. There are families who no longer risk losing their home or savings just because someone gets sick. There are young people free to pursue their dreams and start their own business without worrying about losing access to healthcare. There are Americans who, without this law, would not be alive today.

For Americans who already had insurance before this law was passed, the Affordable Care Act has meant new savings and new protections. Today, tens of millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are no longer at risk of being denied coverage. Women no longer have to worry about being charged more just for being women. Millions of young people have been able to stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26.

More than 9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved an average of $1,600 per person on their prescription medicine, over $15 billion in all since the Affordable Care Act became law. More than 70 million Americans have gained access to preventive care, including contraceptive services, with no additional out-of-pocket costs. And the law has helped improve the quality of health care: it’s a major reason we saw 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals over the last three years of data.

Read the full statement.

Seth Meyers Interviews Ted Cruz About Marriage, Obamacare, & Climate Change

You'll note how Cruz soft-peddles his lunacy when he's not speaking to a wingnut audience. According to Cruz, his infamous Green Eggs & Ham filibuster cost the Democrats the Senate.

Today At The Supreme Court

White House: 11.4 Million Americans Are Now Covered Under Obamacare

Obama Gets Goofy For Buzzfeed

Via the Washington Post:

The #Millennial-friendly Web site BuzzFeed has taken over for Zach Galifianakis as the White House's preferred video venue for encouraging young people to sign up for health insurance. You remember the Galifianakis video, of course; Obama's self-deprecating appearance on the fake interview show last year was credited with a big boost in traffic (however short-lived) to HealthCare.gov. In 2015, it's BuzzFeed, with this number. Again, self-deprecating. And actually more so; last year the target of the jokes was mostly Galifianakis. Here it's just Obama being a weirdo. You know, just like us, or whatever. Someone somewhere -- someone who already doesn't like Obama -- is going to isolate some part of this as perfectly encapsulating How Obama is Diminishing the Presidency, just as he did in his Glozell interview and just as he did with Galifianakis and just as every presidency in the modern media era has done in some way, according to his opponents.

Pelosi Mocks Obamacare Repeal Attempts

From Rep. Nancy Pelosi's YouTube channel: "It’s another week in the new Republican Congress, which means another stale attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Thanks to the health care law, uninsured rates are at a record low and more hardworking families are able to afford insurance and yet, Republicans are holding their 56th repeal vote. Unbelievable. Now I know how Bill Murray’s character felt in the movie, Groundhog Day."