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On June 25, the Supreme Court ruled that The Accountable Care Act may provide nationwide tax subsidies to help poor and middle-class people buy health insurance.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the majority opinion in the 6-to-3 decision. The case is in regard to a central part of the Affordable Care Act, where the law created marketplaces, known as exchanges, to allow people who lack insurance to shop for individual health plans. Several states set up their own exchanges, but the majority allowed the federal government to step in to run them. Across the nation, about 85-90% of customers using the exchanges qualify for subsidies to help pay for coverage, based on their income. The question became, is the subsidy only available to members enrolling on their State Exchange and not applicable to members enrolling on a Federal Exchange?

The specific case, King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, asks the question of what to make of a phrase in the law that implies the subsidies are available only to people buying insurance on "an exchange established by the State." The final ruling determined that State and Federal Exchanges should be the same so the State Subsidies would apply to a State operating on the Federal Exchange.

Read the decision here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-114_qol1.pdf