The court ruled in favor of the Obama administration’s claim that, despite the specific wording in the health care, subsidies for the cost of a insurance plan should continue to flow to citizens in states which did not specifically setup their own state health care exchanges.
Report from the Associated Press:
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the nationwide tax subsidies underpinning President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, rejecting a major challenge to the landmark law in a ruling that preserves health insurance for millions of Americans.
The justices said in a 6-3 ruling that the subsidies that 8.7 million people currently receive to make insurance affordable do not depend on where they live, as opponents contended.
The outcome was the second major victory for Obama in politically charged Supreme Court tests of his most significant domestic achievement. And it came the same day the court gave him an unexpected victory by preserving a key tool the administration uses to fight housing bias.
Obama greeted news of the decision by declaring the health care law “is here to stay.” He said the law is no longer about politics, but the benefits millions of people are receiving.
Declining to concede, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said Republicans, who have voted more than 50 times to undo the law, will “continue our efforts to repeal the law and replace it with patient-centered solutions that meet the needs of seniors, small business owners, and middle-class families.”
Salon compiled the statements of the various 2016 candidate reactions. Sufficed to say, it splits evenly along party lines. Republican candidates condemn the ruling as a blow to law and reason, while Democrats praise the ruling as a win for consumers.
The ruling will not take the issue off the table in 2016 since, presumably, any Republican nominee will be running on a platform of repealing and replacing the law with a different plan.
