US Supreme Court Rules on Affordable Care Act Subsidies

News Article

By Marissa Silver

Anchorage, AK - The State of Alaska is breathing a sigh of relief Thursday as the US Supreme Court ruled six to three to uphold Burwell in the case of King vs Burwell, meaning....

"Alaskans that are receiving the premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act will be able to keep them and be able to continue to receive their insurance under the Affordable Care Act," said Lori Wing-Heier who is the Director of the Alaska Division of Insurance.

The ruling allows approximately 16,500 Alaskans to continue receiving the reduced cost for coverage.

In a statement Governor Bill Walker said, "We are pleased so many of our friends, family and neighbors will be able to continue to receive healthcare."

However, some of Alaska's State Representatives in Washington, DC did not agree with the ruling.

In a tweet Alaska US Senator Dan Sullivan said, "Disappointed in #ObamaCare AKA #SCOTUScare decision. Still working with Senate majority to repeal and replace with patient-centered reforms."

While Alaska Congressman Representative Don Young agreed saying in a statement, "Today's ruling doesn't change the fact that the Affordable Care Act is fundamentally broken. This poorly written law - riddled with holes and overregulation - continues to fail the american people."

However, if the US Supreme Court had ruled to take away the subsidies the several thousand Alaskans who do receive their healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act would have seen their healthcare insurance costs increase.

"They would have been responsible to pay the entire premium and the average subside is somewhere around $550, I believe is what my last statistic showed, so they would have had to pay that out of pocket and that's average, so if you have a larger family, you would have had to pay more," said Wing-Heier.

And the State hopes to continue keeping healthcare affordable for Alaskans.

"We're very committed to working with the providers, with the insurance companies to stabilize or reduce the cost of healthcare itself, which we hope will reduce the cost of the healthcare insurance for Alaskans," Wing-Heier said.

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