The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday it will hear King v. Burwell. This is could jeopardize the nation’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which could then leave millions of Americans uninsured.
Hearing the case means a huge victory for opponents of the act because they won’t need to wait for a split among federal appeals courts. Opponents previously lost a unanimous verdict at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
What does King v. Burwell mean for the public?
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The question in King v. Burwell is whether the language of the act allows consumers to receive premium tax credits in states that have not established their own exchanges and instead are relying on HealthCare.gov. Many states have not created their own exchanges.
One part of the law says the tax credits are available only to Americans who enrolled “through an exchange established by the state.” But the Obama administration argues that the law’s clear intention was to offer subsidies and expand coverage to Americans in every state, and that other sections of the law indicate that subsidies are available to people in states served by the federal exchange.