Obama wins 6-3 in Supreme Court battle
Yesterday, (Thursday 25 June 2015) the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 in favor of upholding federal subsidies in the contentious King v. Burwell case, which addressed whether the wording of the Affordable Care Act intended the State to subsidize insurance premiums in states with Health Exchanges that were not federally implemented or controlled.
One of the three dissenters, Scalia, said that "Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is 'established by the state." His approach rested on the literal interpretation of the wording of the Act.
In contrast, Chief Justice Roberts (one of the six that voted in favor of the administration) said things less literal for him. "In every case we must respect the role of the Legislature and take care not to undo what it has done. A fair reading of legislation demands a fair understanding of the legislative plan. Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not destroy them. If at all possible we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former and avoids the latter."