King v. Burwell Supreme Court case: What you need to know [Special Report]

Affordable Care Act subsidies ruling--key dates, main arguments and impact on states, payers and providers
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By Dori Zweig 

The Supreme Court is finally set to hear oral arguments in the King v. Burwell case. The case, over a year in the making, concerns the legality of federal subsidies in the Affordable Care Act--specifically, whether tax credits are available only in states that set up their own insurance marketplaces and not in those that use Healthcare.gov.

[Read the latest: Supreme Court hears King v. Burwell arguments.]

The plaintiffs claim that, according to the wording of the ACA, subsidies are legal only "through an exchange established by the State." Defendants will argue that it was not the intent of the law to limit subsidies only to residents of states that set up their own insurance exchanges.

In this special report, we examine how the case came to be, the arguments of both the plaintiffs and the defendants and what striking down the subsidies would mean for the industry as a whole.