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The Supreme Court put President Obama's healthcare law back into legal peril, announcing it would consider a conservative group's claim that the law does not allow the government to subsidize health insurance for low and middle-income Americans in two-thirds of the states. The announcement surprised legal observers who had expected the justices to wait on the issue, at least until a court of appeals [in Washington, D.C.] had finished considering it. Friday's decision to quickly move ahead provided a strong indication that at least four justices remain determined to undo central elements of the law. (Savage, 11/7)

The case granted Friday marks the law’s third trip to the high court and sets the stage for another major health-care ruling next summer. The appeal threatens a principal aim of President Barack Obama ’s signature law—extending private health insurance to lower-income Americans who don’t receive coverage from their employers or qualify for Medicaid—and could cripple the law if the challengers prevail. (Bravin and Radnofsky, 11/7)

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a new challenge to the Affordable Care Act, potentially imperiling President Obama’s signature legislative achievement two years after it survived a different Supreme Court challenge by a single vote. The case concerns tax subsidies that currently help millions of people afford health insurance under the law. According to the challengers, those subsidies are being provided unlawfully in three dozen states that have decided not to run the marketplaces, known as exchanges, for insurance coverage. (Liptak, 11/7)

The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear the most serious challenge to the Affordable Care Act since the justices found it constitutional more than two years ago: a lawsuit targeting the federal subsidies that help millions of Americans buy health insurance. More than 4 million people receive the subsidies, which the Obama administration contends are essential to the act by making insurance more affordable for low- and middle-income families. (Barnes, 11/7)

The Supreme Court’s decision Friday to take up a challenge to Obamacare subsidies couldn’t come at a worse time: Republicans fresh off big election wins are vowing to dismantle the law while the White House is readying a second enrollment season that it needs to get off to a better start than last year’s disaster. The case taken by the court, King v. Burwell, puts at risk the health law’s low- and middle-income subsidies for millions of Americans who live in states that did not set up their own health insurance exchanges. (Haberkorn, 11/10)

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Rovner reports: "Once again, the Supreme Court will decide whether the Affordable Care Act lives or dies. Defying expectations, the court announced Friday it has agreed to hear – during this term – a case that challenges the heart of the law: subsidies to help people pay their insurance premiums. In about three dozen states, the federal government runs the online marketplaces where individuals can find health plans." (Rovner, 11/7)

In a rare and unexpected move, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new challenge to the Obama health care overhaul, dealing the White House yet another blow this week. Health care experts say an adverse ruling would be catastrophic for the health insurance program that the president has fought to enact and preserve. (Totenberg, 11/7)

Writing another prescription for showdown, the Supreme Court on Friday said it would consider a new challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In a highly anticipated decision, issued without written explanation, the court announced it would set arguments for the King v. Burwell case that will shape the future of the health exchanges set up under the law. (Doyle, 11/7)

“The highest court in the land has now spoken,” an elated and relieved President Obama said after the Supreme Court upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act in 2012. Not so fast. Now the law -- a centerpiece of Obama’s presidency -- is before the Court again after the justices announced last Friday that they would hear a fresh challenge to an important part of Obamacare. (De Vogue, 11/10)

Republicans have promised to revive their war on Obamacare when they take control of the Senate in January, but lurking in the distance is an even greater threat to the president’s health care law—one that could have devastating implications for millions of people who have obtained health insurance through federal exchanges. (Ehley, 11/7)

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case on a subject that’s important to millions of people who receive subsidies to help purchase coverage under the health-care law. Friday’s decision follows earlier action in July when two U.S. appeals courts issued conflicting rulings on the issue. Kaiser Health News' Mary Agnes Carey answers some frequently asked questions about those court decisions and how they impact consumers. (Carey, 11/7)

The court's decision to take the case is likely to create uncertainty in the healthcare industry and could shake consumers' confidence just before open enrollment for 2015 coverage begins Nov. 15. “What it means is the rest of us have to work doubly hard to make sure people understand there are still subsidies available,” said Kathleen Oestreich, CEO of Meritus, a not-for-profit insurer in Arizona. ... Following news of the court's decision to take the case, major health insurers and hospital operators saw share prices tumble. (Schencker, Evans and Demko, 11/8)

Eleven states that could be affected if the Supreme Court upholds the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act told a court earlier this week they had assumed residents could still receive the law’s tax credits even if they didn’t build their own exchanges. ... In the brief the states said they assumed there wouldn’t be a problem with the tax credits when they opted not to run their own exchanges, saying they “elected to forgo establishing their own exchange under the ACA with the understanding that relying on a federally facilitated exchange would not harm state citizens or interfere with state insurance market.” (Radnofsky, 11/8)

U.S. hospital owners including Community Health Systems Inc. (CYH) may suffer a significant blow if the Supreme Court takes away subsidies that some Americans get to buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The court said yesterday that it would rule on whether people in at least 34 states will be allowed to receive subsidies to buy insurance under the law, which has helped cut the number of uninsured showing up at hospitals. (Gilblom, 11/8)

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to take up a case challenging the subsidies in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges could wind up having a huge impact in Georgia. The federal subsidies help millions of Americans afford health insurance offered in the exchanges, which were created as part of the health reform law. (Miller, 11/7)