Modern Healthcare interviewed Manatt's Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health, for an article on how the court might rule after hearing oral arguments in King v. Burwell.
Modern Healthcare reports that the plaintiffs in the case are challenging the legality of the IRS rule allowing premium subsidies in as many as 37 states. Justice Anthony Kennedy is widely seen as a possible swing vote in the case, as is Chief Justice John Roberts, who remained mostly silent during the arguments
Ario said he hopes that Roberts' relative silence means he might side with the government. "I would like to think he's trying to be very judicious here, be very careful, and I think, in general, the more judicious and careful he is, the more that favors the government," Ario said.