Health Care Industry Weighs Effects of Rulings
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan St. Francis Health says two contradictory federal court rulings on the Affordable Care Act adds to the uncertainty already felt in the health care industry. Christopher Doehring says the decision will not have an immediate affect on Hoosiers and adds the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately need to step in to decide the outcome. Doehring says 75 percent of the exchange–in Indiana and around the country–is made up of people who rely on the federal subsidies to afford insurance.
He says if the D.C. court's decision stands, it could price lower-income Americans out of the federal exchange.
A Washington Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the federal government cannot provide insurance subsidies to states like Indiana and 35 others which opted into the federal insurance exchange. However, the Virginia-based Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the federal government can contribute insurance subsidies through the federal insurance exchange.
The two federal courts do not have jurisdiction in Indiana. Doehring says because two federal appeals courts issued opposite findings ultimately means nothing will be final until the nation's highest court considers the case.
Source: Inside INdiana Business