Wednesday, January 15, 2014

U.S. judge upholds subsidies pivotal to Obamacare

Reuters reports:
A judge on Wednesday upheld subsidies at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, rejecting one of the main legal challenges to the policy by conservatives opposed to an expansion of the federal government.

A ruling in favor of a lawsuit brought by individuals and businesses in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia would have crippled the implementation of the law by making health insurance unaffordable for many people.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington D.C. wrote that Congress clearly intended to make the subsidies available nationwide under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

"There is evidence throughout the statute of Congress's desire to ensure broad access to affordable health coverage," the judge wrote.
According to this logic the executive branch can do anything because they claim it's all for affordable care. So flexible words have no real meaning anymore!