December 3, 2013
A federal district court today heard oral argument in a lawsuit that challenges the availability of premium subsidies to lower-income Americans in some 35 states under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. At the hearing in Washington, D.C., the plaintiffs argued that the wording of the ACA’s subsidy provision authorizes the federal government to provide premium subsidies only in states that set up their own insurance exchanges. The government responded that the plaintiffs’ argument “defies common sense” and flouts Congress’ intent to provide “affordable health coverage for all Americans.” It also pointed out that the plaintiffs’ interpretation would create absurd results elsewhere in the ACA. The AHA last month filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the government in the case (Halbig v. Sebelius), pointing out that “the ACA will not work without subsidies, and Congress knew it. Yet plaintiffs insist that Congress designed the ACA so that tens of millions of Americans, in more than half the states, would be walled off from subsidies altogether.” The district court plans to decide the case by mid-February.
Source: AHA News