INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
— About 160,000 low- and moderate-income Indiana residents will keep the
health insurance premium subsidies provided through the Affordable Care
Act under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday.
The court ruled
6-3 that the Internal Revenue Service could allow the subsidies even in
the 34 states, including Indiana, that didn't set up their own health
insurance exchanges.
Supporters of the
subsidies say the ruling is good news for the thousands of residents who
rely on the tax credits to obtain health care. The Kaiser Family
Foundation estimates Indiana receives more than $51 million in federal tax
subsidies to pay for health insurance, with the average enrollee seeing a
tax credit of about $320 a month.
State Republicans
said the ruling was disappointing and renewed calls for the law's repeal.
"Today's display
of judicial activism by the Supreme Court upholds this deeply flawed law
to the detriment of millions of Hoosiers who will continue to be subject
to the mandates and taxes in Obamacare," Gov. Mike Pence said in a
statement.
Republican U.S.
Sen. Dan Coats called the law poorly written and executed, while Eric
Holcomb, who is seeking to replace Coats in the Senate, urged fellow
Republicans to take action.
"Those of us who
feel the Affordable Care Act was the wrong answer to a national problem
just can't continue talking about what we're against; we now have to
present what we're for," Holcomb said in a statement.
Indiana
Democratic Party Chairman John Zody said the ruling "reaffirms what we
already know - commonsense ideas that improve the lives of everyday folks,
including Hoosiers, will always win."
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