The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a public policy group that advocates for free markets and limited government, said Thursday its attorneys have
The ruling last week came only hours after another federal appeals court said the IRS lacked the authority under the Affordable Care Act to provide tax credits to subsidize health insurance purchased through a federal exchange such as HealthCare.gov, but only for coverage acquired on state-run exchanges (see
On Thursday, CEI attorneys said they have requested the Supreme Court to review the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the case it brought there,
“From the time these cases were first filed, we’ve tried to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible for the plaintiffs and the millions of individuals like them,” said CEI general counsel Sam Kazman in a statement. “A fast resolution is also vitally important to the states that chose not to set up exchanges, to the employers in those states who face either major compliance costs or huge penalties, and to employees who face possible layoffs or reductions in their work hours as a result of this illegal IRS rule. Our petition today to the Supreme Court represents the next step in that process.”
The plaintiffs in the King case argued that the Affordable Care Act drew a distinction between state-established exchanges and those set up by the federal government in nonparticipating states. They contended Congress permitted subsidies only for states with their own exchanges, as a way of encouraging state participation. However, 36 states, mostly led by Republican governors, are not participating in setting up state-based exchanges and taxpayers must instead turn to the federal exchange for coverage.
“On Obamacare, last week started with a circuit split and ended with a Jonathan Gruber split. Our hope is the Supreme Court will at least resolve the former,” said Kazman.
Two days after the rulings, CEI said it brought to light a
Proponents of the Affordable Care Act point to a record of legislative debate and hearings in which tax credits for the federal exchange were discussed and contend that the federal statute clearly supports the need for tax credits for insurance purchased on the federal exchange.