Boehner: Obamacare ‘Fundamentally Broken,’ ‘Struggle Will Continue’

Following the Supreme Court’s ruing in favor of the administration in King v. Burwell, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) reiterated Republican opposition to the law and said they would continue to push back against it.

“The problem with Obamacare is still fundamentally the same,” Boehner told reporters Thursday during his weekly press availability. “The law is broken. It’s raising costs for American families, it’s raising costs for small businesses and it’s just fundamentally broken. And we’re going to continue our efforts to do everything we can to put the American people back in charge of their own healthcare and not the federal government. ”

Boehner’s comments came at the same time President Obama celebrated the Obamacare victory with comments in the Rose Garden, saying: “the Affordable Care Act is here to stay.”

According to Boehner, no decisions have been made yet on whether to use the reconciliation to take on Obamacare, but he noted that Republicans will continue to oppose it.

“It needs to be dealt with but as we know it’s very difficult to deal with it when you have a president that fundamentally disagrees and so the struggle will continue,” he said.

The Ohio Republican stopped short of committing to a vote on a Republican alternative, saying while there has been discussions about it most of the focus had been on the GOP response should the court have ruled against the administration in Thursday’s decision.

“Now is the time to refocus our efforts,” he said.

Boehner noted that the ruling also does not change anything with the House’s lawsuit challenging Obamacare.

“Changes nothing with regard to the lawsuit we filed against the administration over their source of payments to insurers with regard to Obamacare,” he said. “They’re paying insurers out of an account that’s never been appropriated. They’re taking money from elsewhere in the law to do this. I think it violates the Constitution. It certainly violates Congress’ prerogative to appropriate funds.”