In a 6-3 decision on June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled to allow tax subsidies to continue to be available to consumers who purchased their insurance coverage through www.healthcare.gov. For months, the case has been top-of-mind for states, health wonks and think-tanks, politicians and policymakers, with much speculation about what decision the Court might make.
The ruling in favor of the government, with the majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts and joined by Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, effectively means that more than 6 million people can continue paying reduced monthly premiums – a key piece of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was enacted to help make health insurance coverage more affordable. Chief Justice Roberts notes the significance of this in his opinion, stating, “Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them,” and, “The tax credits are among the Act’s key reforms, involving billions of dollars in spending each year and affecting the price of health insurance for millions of people.”
The full opinion, including the dissent written by Justice Scalia, is available here.
