“Investors interpreted commentary by Justice Anthony Kennedy, a potential swing vote among the nine judges, as favorable to the Obama administration’s defense of the subsidies that help consumers in more than 30 states.”
“I am hopeful that the court will recognize and uphold the intent of Congress, which was to expand coverage as broadly as possible,” Bill Carpenter, chief executive of LifePoint Hospitals, said in an interview.
If the court rules against federal subsidies, Carpenter and other executives interviewed by Reuters said they expected the justices ”would allow for a transition period before patients lose access to healthcare.”
”Alan Miller, CEO of hospital chain Universal Health Services, expects the Obama administration would reach an agreement with Republican opponents of the law to keep subsidies in place through the end of 2015. He believes that is enough time to create a workaround to the Supreme Court ruling.”
