Hosts of Fox News' Outnumbered railed against the GOP for lacking a serious alternative health care plan should the Supreme Court rule against the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) tax credits. The plans put forward by Republican lawmakers as alternatives would each result in fewer people enrolled in coverage while paying higher premiums.

The Supreme Court will issue a ruling this month on the King v. Burwell lawsuit, which will determine whether a subclause in the ACA that says subsidies can be disbursed through “Exchanges established by the State” prohibits the IRS from providing tax credits to consumers who bought insurance over the federal exchange. 

The hosts of Fox News' Outnumbered criticized President Obama for not having a “plan B if the justices rule against him,” but Sandra Smith and Andrea Tantaros turned the focus to congressional Republicans, calling them out for not having “a backup plan” after campaigning for years against the administration to repeal Obamacare. Tantaros called Republicans “lame”, and characterized their actions as “inexplicable” and “pathetic”:

In fact, Republicans in Congress have come up with five alternative plans if the ACA's subsidies are struck down, but as Vox noted each could lead to “very bizarre policy outcomes that are not good for the individual insurance market,” and would result in fewer people enrolled in coverage while paying higher premiums: 

Republicans lawmakers have also come up with five alternatives plans to keep the [federal subsidy] dollars flowing. The question is whether they'll do much good. Most of the plans would extend the availability of subsidies, while dismantling other parts of Obamacare. The result would likely be a world that looks much more like America before Obamacare -- where fewer people are enrolled in coverage and are paying higher premiums.

Take, for example, Sen. Ron Johnson's Preserving Freedom and Choice in Health Care Act. It would both extend the Obamacare subsidies and kill the health-care law's individual mandate, the unpopular requirement that nearly all Americans carry health coverage.

Without a requirement to purchase insurance coverage, health economists roundly expect that young, healthy people would no longer buy coverage. This, then, would lead to a spike in premiums as only the really sick people, who use their coverage a lot, opt to buy insurance plans.

The transitional period Johnson's bill imagines is one where the individual market is smaller and a more expensive place to shop. 

These types of problems turn up again and again in all five Republican plans. When you try to repeal Obamacare and maintain the law's subsidies, it turns out you end up with some very bizarre policy outcomes that are not good for the individual insurance market.

Fox's criticism of the GOP for lacking viable Obamacare alternatives comes after years of the network leading the campaign to repeal the law.