In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court saved the controversial Affordable Care Act (ACA) law commonly known as ObamaCare. Today's ruling holds that the ACA authorized federal tax credits for eligible insureds - not only in the states that established their own exchanges - but also in the 34 states that have been using the federal marketplace that is accessed online at www.healthcare.gov.
The State of Florida leads the nation in ACA enrollments, with approximately 1.5 million 2015 enrollments. Florida uses the federal marketplace and is one of 21 states that have not chosen to expand the Medicad program (that aspect of ObamaCare was left up to the states to decide in the earlier Supreme Court decision that ruled the ACA is constitutional). The overwhelming majority of ACA enrollees on the federal marketplace receive premium subsidies (in many cases nearly the entire health insurance premium), so there was a lot at stake in today's ruling.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued the majority ruling, and once again was an unlikely hero in saving Obama's signature legislative achievement. He was joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often the High Court's swing vote, and the four liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the dissenting opinion and was joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Justice Scalia dissented in forceful terms, even going so far as to give the ObamaCare program a new name: SCOTUScare.
Until next time,
Andrew Herman
