Supreme Court battles over health care subsidies

WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) -- On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court debated the legality of the Affordable Care Act for the third time -- this time over health care subsidies.

The justices heard arguments over whether the 34 states where the federal government runs the health care exchanges are eligible to receive taxpayer-funded premium subsidies. If the case, known as King v. Burwell, is shot down, it could undermine the entire health care law and take away subsidies for up to 8 million Americans, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

Each side was given a half hour to make their arguments during the hearing, which was scheduled to last an hour, and a ruling is expected to come by the end of June.

The plaintiffs argued the language of the nearly 1000 page bill, which states the IRS can distribute tax credits to "an Exchange established by the State," should be taken literally and was written as an incentive for states to establish their own marketplaces. Defendants of the law believe the bill was set up to be distributed by both states and the federal government.

According to the New York Times, employed, white, high school graduates living in the south would be most likely to lose their coverage.

States that run their own marketplaces would not be affected by the ruling.

The decision will likely come down to votes of Justices John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy. Roberts' surprising vote in Business v. Sebelius, due to his conservative nature, led to the individual mandate being held up in 2012 after he determined it should be seen as a tax.

Kennedy's questioning of the constitutionality of the plaintiff's interpretation of the law signals toward a win for the ACA.