Sup. Court upholds subsidies in NH

On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states do not have to set up their own health insurance exchanges for residents to receive federal health insurance subsidies.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides a tax subsidy for any individual who purchases health insurance through an online health insurance exchange "established by the state." 

Opponents of the ACA argued that this language meant subsidies were only available in states that established their own health insurance exchanges.  Over half of states - including New Hampshire - instead use the health insurance website built by the federal government.

Thursday's Supreme Court ruling affirms that Congress intended the subsidies to be available to all residents, whether they buy insurance through a state exchange or the federal exchange.

According to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation, this ruling upholds tax breaks for roughly 30,000 low-income New Hampshire residents.

Justice Antonin Scalia argued that the majority of the Court was using "jiggery-pokery" to change the meaning of the phrase "established by the state."

"We really should start calling the law SCOTUScare," Scalia said.  SCOTUS is the acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States.