Supreme Court Takes Up Potentially Disastrous Obamacare Case
Photo Credit: Daily Caller
The court decided to hear the appeal in King v. Burwell, in which the Fourth Circuit Court ruled that Obamacare premium subsidies to customers in HealthCare.gov states were legal. The D.C. Circuit had ruled hours before in the best-known case, Halbig v. Burwell, that the text of the law restricts subsidies to state-run exchanges only– creating a circuit split that made it possible the Supreme Court would issue a final ruling.
At issue is the repeated requirement in the law that premium subsidies go to exchanges “established by the state.” Four lawsuits have cropped up that argue that the requirement makes subsidies in HealthCare.gov-run states illegal.
The Obama administration had asked the Supreme Court to wait to decide whether to take up the case until the D.C. Circuit Court issued a new ruling in Halbig v. Burwell. A December en banc hearing will force all judges on the circuit to rule on the case instead of the typical three-judge panel; and given the number of Democratic-appointed judges, the court is expected to find the federal exchange subsidies legal.
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