Health insurance carriers in Wisconsin and 35 other U.S. states are awaiting a legal decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in June on whether they will continue to be able to participate in the federal insurance marketplaces.

According to a Jan. 3 online Marshfield News-Herald news report, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the legality of the subsidies customers have access to when purchasing health insurance through the federal marketplace. Those challenging the law claim the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare, only provides subsidies to those individuals purchasing insurance through state based exchanges.

Subsidies, which are tax credits issued to individuals through the Internal Revenue Service, are available to individuals who make between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. In Wisconsin, 90 percent of customers who went through the federal marketplace received subsidies in 2014, according to a report by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services. Those subsidies reduced the premium individuals pay by 74 percent, or $316. That ultimately left individuals with an average premium of $112 a month after tax credits.

“This is something we’re definitely paying close attention to as it makes it way through the courts,” said Marty Anderson, director of marketing for consumer products at Wisconsin-based Security Health Plan. “Our hope was that this would have been taken care of in the appellate courts, and it wouldn’t have made its way to the Supreme Court. This creates a little more uncertainty for us as a carrier and those people purchasing insurance on the market.”’

According to the Marshfield News-Herald, if those subsidies were to suddenly disappear if the Supreme Court rules they are illegal, it would have a drastic impact on the health insurance marketplace in 2016.