The big Obamacare news last week wasn't at the Supreme Court. It was in Kansas.

[Jim Lane]

3. You're confusing two different issues.

States had the choice of expanding Medicaid or not. They also had the choice of running their own exchange or letting their citizens use the federal exchange instead.

The issue before the Court is the availability of subsidies in states that aren't running their own exchanges. That doesn't affect Medicaid expansion. Regardless of the ruling in King v. Burwell, a state that hasn't expanded Medicaid could still make the decision to do so, thereby gaining some measure of coverage for many of its citizens who now lack it.

The effect of a ruling for the plaintiffs would be on the states' other decision: setting up an exchange. So far, it hasn't made much difference whether a state did so. Either way, people could go online to compare plans and could get federal subsidies if income-eligible. A ruling against the Obama administration would lead to pressure on the states to set up their own exchanges so that their citizens could keep getting the subsidies.