{"id":16455,"date":"2014-07-23T18:23:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T18:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/?p=16455"},"modified":"2014-07-23T18:23:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T18:23:39","slug":"split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"obama1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Less than two hours after an\u00a0appeals court in Washington<\/a>\u00a0ordered the Obama administration to turn off the spigot of federal subsidies to consumers through U.S.-run health-care exchanges,an appeals court in Virginia ruled that the subsidies<\/a>\u00a0should be allowed to keep on flowing.<\/p>\n

With the future of\u00a0Obamacare<\/a><\/span>\u00a0hanging in the balance, the back-to-back opinions raise the likelihood of another Supreme Court showdown over the the president\u2019s marquee law.<\/p>\n

The two circuits split over an issue fundamental to the implementation of the\u00a0Affordable Care Act<\/a><\/span>. That is, whether the Internal Revenue Service had the authority under the statute passed by Congress to extend federal subsidies to coverage acquired through federal exchanges.<\/p>\n

In 36 states, the federal government runs some or all of the online exchanges. So, if the subsidies are invalidated, the number of people who must purchase health insurance or face a penalty could shrink significantly.<\/p>\n

The plaintiff challengers argue that the IRS overstepped its bounds. The Obama administration argues that the IRS was well within its rights.<\/p>\n

The first of the two rulings \u2014 a 2-1 opinion issued by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit \u2014 held\u00a0that the language of the statute does not give the IRS that authority. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond found the language of the statute ambiguous, and therefore deferred to\u00a0the IRS\u2019s more flexible interpretation.<\/p>\n

The decision could have \u201csignificant consequences both for the millions of individuals receiving tax credits through federal Exchanges and for health insurance markets more broadly,\u201d wrote D.C. Circuit Judge Thomas B. Griffith.<\/p>\n

But such an impact assumes the subsidies ruling will ultimately stand. The Obama administration is already drawing up backup plans to knock it down.<\/p>\n

Justice Department officials say they will immediately ask the full D.C. Circuit to review the panel\u2019s 2-1 ruling. That process, called requesting a hearing\u00a0en banc<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 \u00a0is certain to put off any enforcement of Tuesday\u2019s D.C. decision.<\/p>\n

But lawyers following the case say that eventually, all eyes will turn to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee that the high court would take up the matter. And the government, given that it prevailed at the Fourth Circuit, \u00a0is likely hoping that a reversal by the full D.C. Circuit would dissuade the justices from entering the fray at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf [the government] eliminates a potential circuit split, it makes it less likely the Supreme Court would take it up,\u201d said Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who was among the first to suggest a potential legal challenge to the IRS regulation.<\/p>\n

But the lawyers challenging the subsidies don\u2019t have to wait to see what the D.C. Circuit does next to ask the Supreme Court to take up the case.<\/p>\n

And if the justices consent to hear it, that sets up another lengthy battle, further delaying any judgment day for\u00a0Obamacare<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

For now, the two sides are bracing for a long haul.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that [the D.C. Circuit] decision is incorrect, inconsistent with Congressional intent, different from previous rulings, and at odds with the goal of the law: to make health care affordable no matter where people live,\u201d Emily Pierce, a spokeswoman at the Justice Department, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Michael A. Carvin, a partner at the law firm Jones Day who represents plaintiffs in both cases, said the D.C. Circuit made clear \u201cthat laws are made by the plain language of the statutes and not by administrative agencies\u2019 policy preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

from wsj.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Less than two hours after an\u00a0appeals court in Washington\u00a0ordered the Obama administration to turn off the spigot of federal subsidies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[116,209],"tags":[294,296,206,292],"class_list":["post-16455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-blog","category-supremecourt","tag-obama-2","tag-obamacare-2","tag-supreme-court","tag-healthcare-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSplit rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown - MMG Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Less than two hours after an\u00a0appeals court in Washington\u00a0ordered the Obama administration to turn off the spigot of federal subsidies […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MMG Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-23T18:23:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/obama1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MediaBeast\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MediaBeast\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MediaBeast\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287\"},\"headline\":\"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T18:23:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/clekis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/obama1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Obama\",\"Obamacare\",\"Supreme Court\",\"Healthcare\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Legal Blog\",\"supremecourt\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/\",\"name\":\"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown - MMG Resources\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/clekis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/obama1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T18:23:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/clekis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/obama1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/clekis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/obama1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/\",\"name\":\"MMG Resources\",\"description\":\"Company Portal\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287\",\"name\":\"MediaBeast\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\\\/\\\/www.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f2d8caf201e84c7b1c6349c85ac5699?s=96&r=g&d=mm\",\"url\":\"\\\/\\\/www.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f2d8caf201e84c7b1c6349c85ac5699?s=96&r=g&d=mm\",\"contentUrl\":\"\\\/\\\/www.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f2d8caf201e84c7b1c6349c85ac5699?s=96&r=g&d=mm\",\"caption\":\"MediaBeast\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/author\\\/mediabeast\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown - MMG Resources","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown","og_description":"Less than two hours after an\u00a0appeals court in Washington\u00a0ordered the Obama administration to turn off the spigot of federal subsidies […]","og_url":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/","og_site_name":"MMG Resources","article_published_time":"2014-07-23T18:23:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/obama1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"MediaBeast","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MediaBeast","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/"},"author":{"name":"MediaBeast","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287"},"headline":"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown","datePublished":"2014-07-23T18:23:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/"},"wordCount":615,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/obama1.jpg","keywords":["Obama","Obamacare","Supreme Court","Healthcare"],"articleSection":["Legal Blog","supremecourt"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/","url":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/","name":"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown - MMG Resources","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/obama1.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-23T18:23:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/obama1.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/obama1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/split-rulings-obamacare-lead-supreme-court-shutdown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Split rulings over Obamacare could lead to another Supreme Court shutdown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/","name":"MMG Resources","description":"Company Portal","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287","name":"MediaBeast","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f2d8caf201e84c7b1c6349c85ac5699?s=96&r=g&d=mm","url":"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f2d8caf201e84c7b1c6349c85ac5699?s=96&r=g&d=mm","contentUrl":"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f2d8caf201e84c7b1c6349c85ac5699?s=96&r=g&d=mm","caption":"MediaBeast"},"url":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/author\/mediabeast\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}