The lead plaintiff’s legal standing in the Supreme Court case over whether the federal government can issue insurance tax credits through the Affordable Care Act is in jeopardy because he is allegedly eligible for veterans’ medical coverage.
King v. Burwell, for which oral arguments begin March 4, concerns whether the federal government can offer subsidies in the 37 states without their own healthcare exchanges. So far, 6.1 million people have taken advantage of the incentive.
David King, the lead plaintiff, and three others challenging the tax credits said that without the subsidies, they’d be too poor to purchase a plan and therefore avoid paying a penalty for lacking coverage. With the subsidy in hand, however, the plaintiffs would lose that exemption.
But King wouldn’t have to pay the fee or any premium because he served in Vietnam, according to him and his lawyers, the Wall Street Journal reported. That means he can apply for federal medical coverage for veterans, which carries no premium.
David Levine, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, told the Journal that the Supreme Court could still move on the case so long as one of the other three plaintiffs have a legitimate claim. But he suggested King’s lack of standing spelled trouble for the plaintiffs.
“If you can’t find better plaintiffs than these people, it does show you how hard it is to find someone who is genuinely hurt,” Levine told the Journal.
