The uncertainly of Affordable Health Care (Obamacare) continues with the latest judgments released on Tuesday. Tennesseans who qualified for tax credits to buy coverage on the federal exchange are among the millions of Americans facing uncertainty about losing those subsidies that made their health insurance affordable.
In a recent article from the Tennessean they explain the court decision that throws a big question mark over these subsidies and adds more doubt to the Affordable Health Care coverage people thought they had. No doubt this will give more fuel to the fire on the political debate that rages on about this issue. However for everyday Americans this could eventually cause very real issues.
“By a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled today that people living in the 34 states that did not set up their own insurance exchanges do not qualify for those subsidies because of the wording in the Affordable Care Act. After holding public hearings about setting up a state-based exchange, Gov. Bill Haslam decided not to take that action.
But within hours of that decision, another federal appeals court in Virginia unanimously upheld the tax credit provisions.
Tennesseans will not lose the credits any time soon because the final outcome is likely to play out before the U.S. Supreme Court. Another scenario could be that the full 11 members of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit weigh in on the issue, according to Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, which supports the federal health law.
He also noted that similar legal questions are coming up before other U.S. courts that are likely to decide otherwise.
“Today’s decision represents the high-water mark for Affordable Care Act opponents, but the water will recede very quickly,” Pollack said. “The likelihood that today’s decision will not be implemented does not obscure the harm it could cause. It would eliminate help for almost 5 million low- and moderate-income people who currently receive subsidies so they can afford health insurance.”
Eighty percent of the 151,352 Tennesseans who selected a plan between Oct. 1, 2013, and April 19 of this year got financial assistance toward buying coverage, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “
Read the full article by Tom Wilemon / The Tennessean
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