An estimated 6.4 million Americans get the subsidies in the 34 states that don’t have their own exchanges, with many relying on them to afford their health insurance, says the Department of Health and Human Services.

Some healthcare-insurance experts had warned that  a rejection of the subsidies  would lead to a  surge  in the number of uninsured and the disintegration of the  whole healthcare-insurance law.

The ruling means that the ACA is safe at least through the 2016 and probably far beyond that.

Of course, the ruling is also happy news for  most hospitals and insurance companies, for which the ACA has been a revenue bonanza.

But the problem of surging healthcare costs amidst an aging population seems unlikely to moderate any time soon.