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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Supreme Court Case Puts Health Insurance Help in Jeopardy

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A U.S. Supreme Court hearing today could have serious implications for thousands of people in Missouri receiving subsidies through the Affordable Care Act.

In King vs. Burwell, justices will decide whether federal health-insurance subsidies in states such as Michigan that use the federal exchange are illegal.

Sue Morano, an intensive-care unit nurse, said the case threatens the health and financial security of millions of workers. It would turn back the gains that nurses and doctors have made in improving patient-care delivery, she said.

"The health-care law has helped so many people, in ways they don't even realize," she said. "With the focus on preventive care, it's quite life-saving, and it means that my patients are living healthier lives."

The plaintiffs argue that the federal subsidies should only be allowed in the states that have established their own health-insurance exchanges. It's estimated that nearly 90 percent of Missourians using the federal exchange are receiving subsidies to help cover the cost.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that during the most recent open-enrollment period, slightly more than 340,000 people in Michigan enrolled or re-enrolled in health-care plans. Morano said the law is both saving money and improving the quality of care.

"It means that certain diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems like asthma are being treated in the primary-care setting rather than in our emergency room," she said.

Republican state lawmakers passed legislation banning Missouri from setting up its own state exchange.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule in this case sometime before June.

Follow the case on the Supreme Court's blog, scotusblog.com.


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