The case which threatened to undermine the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits in states where the Federal government runs the health insurance exchanges has been decided by a 6-3 vote to uphold the law. If it had gone the other way, there were fears that the health insurance markets in much of the US would enter into “death spirals” which would devastating affects on the health care of millions.
The court rejected the argument that the language of the Act only allowed tax credits in States where state governments had established the exchanges, finding that argument “unpersuasive.”
The decision was broken down into five responses, the final of which showed not only good jurisprudence, but common sense
Petitioners’ plain-meaning arguments are strong, but the Act’s context and structure compel the conclusion that Section 36B allows tax credits for insurance purchased on any Exchange created under the Act. Those credits are necessary for the Federal Exchanges to function like their State Exchange counterparts, and to avoid the type of calamitous result that Congress plainly meant to avoid.
Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion of the majority, which also included Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan.
The decision itself can be found here
posted by Jon White