U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a leading Senate conservative who has long opposed Obamacare, released the following statement today amidst the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Obamacare.
"I am disappointed the Supreme Court ignored the clear writing of the law," said Inhofe. "By doing this, the Court is allowing subsidies to be awarded on federally established exchanges, further preserving the law. Obamacare has been broken from the very beginning. Rather than reduce the cost and increase the availability of health care options, the law has centralized decision-making in Washington to the detriment of the American people. Despite this ruling, my colleagues and I remain committed to repealing Obamacare and replacing it with patient-centered reforms that will reduce the cost of care such that subsidies are not required to make health insurance affordable."
On March 4, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the King v. Burwell case, concerning whether individuals in states with Federally-Facilitated Exchanges are eligible for premium subsidies. Oklahoma was the first state to challenge the legality of an IRS rule.
Sen. Inhofe is an original cosponsor of S. 336, the Obamacare Repeal Act and supports using budget reconciliation as a tool to repeal the law.