The Supreme Court has issued a ruling in one of two closely watched cases just minutes ago, deciding in favor of the Obama Administration and upholding the right of the government to provide subsidies on insurance policies sold on federal exchanges.

The Hill is reporting on the 6-3 decision in King v. Burwell which will allow millions of Americans to continue to receive subsidies in order to afford their health insurance. Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the liberal wing of the bench in affirming the subsidies, said that killing the funds would send the markets into a death spiral which could not have been the intent of Congress.

“The combination of no tax credits and an ineffective coverage requirement could well push a State’s individual insurance market into a death spiral. It is implausible that Congress meant the Act to operate in this manner,” he wrote.

“The argument that the phrase ‘established by the State’ would be superfluous if Congress meant to extend tax credits to both State and Federal Exchanges is unpersuasive.”

However, reporters for SCOTUSblog said that during his oral announcement this morning, “the Chief Justice apparently had a lot of negative comments about the sloppiness in drafting the ACA.”

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissented.

At issue in the case was whether the government meant to provide subsidies only to people who purchased insurance from “an Exchange established by the State”, as the law stated, or if their intent was to provide the funds to people who bought them through Federal exchanges as well.

The court is expected to hand down a decision on two same-sex marriage cases either tomorrow or Monday morning. These cases will decide if states have the power to set marriage policy and if they should be forced to recognize same-sex marriages made in states or countries where it is legal.

Click here to read the decision.

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