The D.C. Circuit Vacates Its Panel’s Halbig Decision

A quick note on unfortunate happenings at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this morning: The court vacated its excellent July 22 decision in Halbig v. Burwell, which had held that Obamacare’s plain language precluded the federal government from subsidizing the health insurance premiums of policies people obtain through exchanges established by the federal government. Just hours after that July 22 decision came down, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the other way on the question in King v. Burwell, setting up a circuit split and a reason for the Supreme Court to promptly decide the question, especially given the scope and magnitude of the issues at stake (36 states have declined to establish state exchanges, for which Obamacare does provided subsidies).


Thus, with the D.C. Circuit now having vacated its three‐​judge panel’s decision and having agreed to rehear the case en banc (by the entire court), there is no longer a circuit split and less urgency for the Supreme Court to take up the issue. Other cases challenging the federal subsidies are coming along, but for the moment, this is where things are. For more on these issues, see Ilya’s latest post and a WSJ op‐​ed by Adam White, both written before this morning’s decision. It’s rare for any circuit, but especially for the D.C. Circuit, to grant en banc rehearings. But then nothing has been normal about Obamacare, which is what you should expect when so politicized a program is thrust upon the nation.