June 25, 2015
On June 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of King, et al. v. Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al., upholding federal subsidies for taxpayers who buy health insurance on the federal government’s healthcare.gov webpage. The potential loss of the subsidies was seen by commentators as a significant threat to the Affordable Care Act.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the 6-3 majority of the Court, finding that though the text of the law was ambiguous, the Affordable Care Act was passed “to improve health insurance markets, not destroy them.” Thus, the Court found that the tax credits that are available to the state health insurance exchanges should also be available to insurance purchased on the federal government’s healthcare.gov page, which is relied upon by as many as 37 states that do not have their own insurance exchanges. Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion was joined by Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. Justice Scalia dissented, and was joined by Justices Thomas and Alito.
The attorneys at The Health Law Partners have a significant amount of experience in providing guidance to healthcare stakeholders as to developments in healthcare law, regulation and policy throughout the United States. For more information regarding such matters, please call (248) 996-8510 or visit thehlp.com.