Supreme Court to hear King v. Burwell health reform subsidy case on March 4

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in King v. Burwell for March 4, a court spokesperson confirmed Monday afternoon.

Many observers have said the case has the potential to disrupt or even unravel the nation's new healthcare law.

The question in King v. Burwell is whether the language of the act allows consumers to receive premium tax credits in states that have not established their own exchanges and instead are relying on HealthCare.gov. Many states have not created their own exchanges.

One part of the law says the tax credits are available only to Americans who enrolled “through an exchange established by the state.” Those backing the lawsuit say that language shows that Americans in states without their own exchanges shouldn't be able to get the tax credits.

But the Obama administration argues that the law's clear intention was to offer subsidies and expand coverage to Americans in every state, and that other sections of the law indicate that subsidies are available to people in states served by the federal exchange.