The U.S. Supreme Court by a 6-3 majority decided in King v. Burwell that the Internal Revenue Service did not exceed authority granted by Congress when it adopted a rule that makes Affordable Care Act premium subsidies available in states that operate federally facilitated exchanges.
For the health insurance marketplace and the millions of businesses and individuals in it, the decision is, as Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, the avoidance of a calamity that Congress did not intend to precipitate through its use of ambiguous language developed in a hurry, behind closed doors.
