The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term on Monday 10/06/2014, and the court will have their fair share of health reform challenges to choose from. Perhaps the issue most likely to be taken up by the Supremes this term is whether health insurance subsidies can go to any American, despite what type of exchange coverage is available in their state. Over the last few months, several federal courts have heard cases and appeals arguing that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) does not allow for people enrolling in health insurance via a federally facilitated or partnership marketplace to receive a health insurance subsidy and that the actual text of the law limits federal premium tax credits to those who enroll via a state-based exchange. As regular Washington Update readers know, thus far the courts have been ruling quite differently on these subsidy cases. The latest ruling came in during the first week of October when a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled in Pruitt v. Burwell that insurance subsidies are only available to those people living in states with a state-run marketplace. However, noting the certainty of an appeal of the decision, the judge declined to stop the distribution of subsidies in federal marketplace states for the time being.
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