If the Supreme Court screws Obamacare premiums could rise 400%

Sun Journal - Monthly premiums would skyrocket nearly 400 percent if Maine consumers who bought health insurance under the Affordable Care Act lose subsidies that help them afford coverage, according to a new report.

The Kaiser Family Foundation released the analysis ahead of an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling later this month that will determine the fate of the federal subsidies, a critical underpinning of the health reform law.

Because of imprecise wording in the ACA, the justices will decide whether the subsidies apply only in states that set up their own insurance marketplaces or, as is the case now, also in states that depend on the federal marketplace.

President Barack Obama’s administration argues Congress intended for the subsidies to be available in all states while the plaintiffs contend shoppers on the federal exchange aren’t entitled to them.

More than half of all states, including Maine, use the federal marketplace Healthcare.gov.