Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Subsidies
The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Affordable Care Act state exchange subsidies, effectively ending plausible court challenges to Obamacare.
The vote was 6-3, with Justices Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Stevens, Kennedy, and Ginsburg voting to uphold the act.
The New York Times summarizes the case:
The case concerned a central part of the Affordable Care Act, Mr. Obama’s signature legislative achievement. The law created marketplaces, known as exchanges, to allow people who lack insurance to shop for individual health plans.
Some states set up their own exchanges, but about three dozen allowed the federal government to step in to run them. Across the nation, about 85 percent of customers using the exchanges qualify for subsidies to help pay for coverage, based on their income.
The question in the case, King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, was what to make of a phrase in the law that seems to say the subsidies are available only to people buying insurance on “an exchange established by the state.”
Four plaintiffs, all from Virginia, sued the Obama administration, saying the phrase meant that the law forbids the federal government to provide subsidies in states that do not have their own exchanges. Congress made the distinction, they said, to encourage states to create their own exchanges.
The plaintiffs challenged an Internal Revenue Service regulation that said subsidies were allowed whether the exchange was run by a state or by the federal government. They said the regulation was at odds with the Affordable Care Act.
Lawyers for the administration said the balance of the law demonstrated that Congress could not have intended to limit the subsidies. Accepting the plaintiffs’ position, the lawyers said, would affect more than six million people and create havoc in the insurance markets.
They added that the phrase, noticed by almost no one until long after the law was enacted, was a curious way to encourage states to establish exchanges.
In July, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., ruled against the challengers.
Judge Roger L. Gregory, writing for a three-judge panel of the court, said the contested phrase was “ambiguous and subject to multiple interpretations.” That meant, he said, that the I.R.S. interpretation was entitled to deference.
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
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RD Walker June 25th, 2015 at 17:21
Millions of Obamacare welfare rats breathe a collective sigh of relief.
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 17:31
ah ha! you stupid. lol
OldLefty June 25th, 2015 at 17:46
Not as many as Republican welfare rats, who were terrified that their voters would loss their insurance.
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 18:12
he’s not going to reply.
OldLefty June 25th, 2015 at 18:34
That always amazed me.
I guess some people take a hit and run approach.
Is that what they mean by “drive by media”?
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 19:12
nice one oldlefty.
OldLefty June 25th, 2015 at 19:19
;-]
arc99 June 25th, 2015 at 18:24
and millions of Obama-hating rats, like you for instance, cry in their beer as their “hurry up and die” health care plan disintegrates right in front of their eyes.
tracey marie June 25th, 2015 at 18:47
Your ignorant and impotent teabagger rage makes me smile. :):):)
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 19:11
don’t they know by being this angry, we don’t have to rub salt in the wound, they are doing it for us. it’s awesome!
Darksnark June 25th, 2015 at 19:15
Confederate flags being yanked off flagpoles and store shelves, housing discrimination laws being upheld as Constitutional, and now a Supreme Court ruling that lets millions of people keep their healthcare coverage.
Boy, it’s been a bad week for you bigoted rightwingnut Teabaggers, huh?
Try not to let your head explode if the Supreme Court invalidates gay-marriage bans….
StoneyCurtisll June 25th, 2015 at 20:56
RD needs our sympathy…
He is in a lot of pain right now..;)
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:27
NOT!
StoneyCurtisll June 25th, 2015 at 20:54
And You come here to piss and moan cause the Supreme Court vote 6-3 in favor of the law..
Must really suck to be you right now.
tracey marie June 25th, 2015 at 21:16
Bristol will need Obamacare because she is pregnant again
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:25
and ain’t that grand!!!!!!!!!!!?
crc3 June 26th, 2015 at 00:58
You should dedicate yourself to something other than this website. Your tired right wing comments have no place here. Be gone!
StoneyCurtisll June 25th, 2015 at 20:52
The ACA is Here To Stay~!
tracey marie June 25th, 2015 at 21:13
OT, the tramp bristol is pregnant from a married man. Lets watch the spin.
Larry Schmitt June 25th, 2015 at 21:14
It would be okay if he were married to her.
tracey marie June 25th, 2015 at 21:15
My point is their holier then thou attitude.
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:20
he got it i’m sure. lol
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:22
if he’s from a trailer park, she’s screwed, no child support dude. thing is, they ain’t married.
Foundryman June 25th, 2015 at 21:37
I seen that on HP. Now we know why the wedding was cancelled.
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:19
serious? and i was just shitting when i said it. i didn’t say a married man, but i said another. DAMMMNNNN!
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:20
the ho.
Chinese Democracy June 25th, 2015 at 22:05
has anyone seen Scalia’s dissent? It’s hilarious
In it he says about the ruling ..
jiggery-pokery
Pure applesauce
curious
outlandishness
quite absurd
defense of the indefensible
unheard of
implausible conclusion
pretense
dismal failure
somersaults of statutory interpretation
words no longer have meaning
whatthe46 June 25th, 2015 at 22:18
HA!!!!!! on a palin trip.
Larry Schmitt June 25th, 2015 at 22:51
Was that written by Lewis Carroll?