ICYMI: Supreme Court Keeps Subsidies – and the Employer Mandate – Alive

The Supreme Court today concluded that the ACA’s reference to exchanges established by “the State” is ambiguous. Does it mean one of the 50 states? Does it include the federal government’s exchange? The Court applied long-standing rules for resolving or interpreting ambiguous statutory language. Another rule of statutory interpretation calls for the Court to consider whether a given interpretation “produces a substantive effect that is compatible with the rest of the law.”

In short: subsidies will live on, as will the employer mandate.

Today’s decision removes the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the employer mandate in the 34 states depending on the federally-operated marketplace for employers doing business in one or more of those states.

The employer mandate is alive and well. Please click to read more analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision.