Will Supreme Court's ruling on health care affect MN? No, says MNsure CEO
The United States Supreme Court says the Affordable Care Act is able to provide financial help to low-income Americans purchasing health insurance through the federal health exchange, the New York Times reports.
The 6-3 decision, which was issued Thursday morning, addressed a lawsuit that claimed the health care overhaul's language meant the subsidies could only be offered in states that are running their own exchange.
The Supreme Court disagreed with that assessment, meaning approximately 6.4 million Americans who get health insurance through the federal exchange will still get tax credits to help pay for it.
It you're in Minnesota – this has basically no effect on you. And if the court had gone the other way, ruling the federal subsidies illegal, it still wouldn't have mattered, according to MNsure.
Since Minnesota is one of 13 states (plus Washington D.C.) independently operating its own health insurance exchange, the lawsuit challenging subsidies available to federal exchange customers was never applicable.
Any ruling would have had "no impact," MNsure interim CEO Allison O’Toole said in a news release.
"Minnesotans who receive tax credits or cost sharing reductions are not in danger of losing those benefits," no matter the ruling, O'Toole continued.
Thirty-four states opted to have the federal government fully run, or at least be involved in the management of, their health insurance market place.
North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin are all federally operated, Bloomberg reports. Illinois and Iowa function on a partnership between the state and federal government.
