Supreme Court Review Sought in King v. Burwell
On July 31, 2014, attorneys in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's Obamacare case, King v. Burwell, requested Supreme Court review of the ruling handed down last week. The case challenged an IRS rule that provided insurance premium subsidies to all states, regardless of whether or not those states chose to establish their own Obamacare insurance exchanges.
The IRS rule was upheld by the Fourth Circuit Court on July 22, 2014; however, less than two hours before it ruled, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the rule in a similar case, Halbig v. Burwell. The Justice Department is expected to appeal that decision but has not yet done so. Michael A. Carvin of Jones Day is the lead counsel for the plaintiffs in both cases, who consist of individuals and small business owners. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is coordinating and funding the cases.