Global Health Update: Universal health coverage

** UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE
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The State of Obamacare
With the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday affirming that health insurance consumers can receive federal subsidies—a key pillar of Obamacare—the future of state-based exchanges may be in jeopardy.

States that started exchanges but are having difficulties may let the feds take over. For example, Hawaii’s exchange is collapsing while Vermont’s looks shaky. Even places like Washington and Minnesota, which are performing relatively well, may opt out in the face of technical challenges, according to the The New York Times.

“There is no new money now to build new infrastructure, and there are no grants available to fix these systems if they’re struggling,” said Heather Howard, the director of the State Health Reform Assistance Network at Princeton University, which was set up to advise states on exchange building. “So the only path forward may be to use HealthCare.gov.”
The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/upshot/obamacare-ruling-may-have-just-killed-state-based-exchanges.html?WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-51993-HD&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=100000003763352&abt=0002&abg=0)

ACA Supporters Cheer
Jubilant consumer advocates celebrated the Affordable Care Act’s survival of its second Supreme Court test in 3 years.

The ACA still faces several lawsuits, although some believe Thursday's decision will discourage judges from advancing the cases.

Even if legal challenges to the law disappear, health insurers, doctors and hospitals face broad uncertainty. Among the top reasons: Signups for 2015 exchange coverage were lackluster.
NPR (http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/06/25/417431609/supreme-court-upholds-obamacare-subsidies)

Applesauce and Jiggery-Pokery
Sahil Kapur, a reporter for Bloomberg Politics, has collected the 8 best lines of the Obamacare ruling in The Fine Print column, summing up everything everyone needs to know in a colorful nutshell.

Among the highlights:  Justice Antonin Scalia’s sardonic “Pure applesauce” dissent; the use of the word “jiggery-pokery” and the alliterative appeal of the phrase, “somersaults of statutory interpretation.”
Bloomberg Politics (http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-06-25/the-8-best-passages-from-the-supreme-court-s-huge-obamacare-ruling)


Related: 'We Doubt That Is What Congress Meant to Do'—The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/we-doubt-that-this-is-what-congress-meant-to-do/396839/)