Just announced moments ago, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the government subsidies are legal under the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies are a critical part of the ACA/Obamacare which provides support to lower income households between one and four times the federal poverty level.
“This was a good day for America.” —@POTUS on the Supreme Court upholding a critical part of the Affordable Care Act http://t.co/PHjhhCe06p
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 25, 2015
Today’s decision is a victory for every hardworking American. Access to quality, affordable health care is a right, not a privilege.
— President Obama (@POTUS) June 25, 2015
The decision helps solidifies the ACA even further and avoid what many analysts predicted would create chaos had the plaintiffs prevailed, with skyrocketing health insurance prices and the potential lose of subsides for 6.4 million people currently enrolled in the federal exchange managed in 34 states.
“Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court’s majority. “If at all possible, we must interpret the act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter.”
The case was entirely based on the interpretation of the words “established by the state” which the plaintiffs argued that only customers of state-run exchanges can receive such financial help. Just 17 such exchanges that sell insurance plans from private insurers are currently run by a state or the District of Columbia. which intended the federal government could subsidize insurance for people who purchase it in a marketplace That language, Roberts wrote, “may not be as clear as it appears when read out of context.”
Nearly 12 million people have signed up for Obamacare and roughly 6.4 million received subsidies that were from the federal healthcare exchange and are now retain that financial aid because of today’s Supreme Court ruling. The average subsidy in 2015 is $272 per month.
You can read the full opinion from the Supreme Court ruling here.