Hospital Stocks Gain On Kennedy's Questions In Obamacare Case

Hospital stocks rose Wednesday after a key swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical of efforts to shoot down the Affordable Care Act.

In a case being argued Wednesday, the influential SCOTUS Blog said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy "seemed to realize" that opponents of the healthcare law would "put state legislators in an impossible position."

Support of the law is likely from court's four liberal members, leaving either Kennedy or Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as potential swing votes.

Community Health Systems CYH and HCA Holdings Inc HCA each picked up more than 6 percent, changing hands recently at $75.25 and $52.68, respectively.

Tenet Healthcare Corp THC gained more than 5 percent to $49.46, while Universal Health Services, Inc. UHS rose more than 2 percent to $115.75.

"Kennedy seemed to be thinking that this provision should be read more like the typical case, and rather unlike the kind of unusual provision the petitioners suggested," according to the blog post.

Plaintiffs in the case, King versus Burwell, argue that Congress intended that federal subsidies for health insurance should be provided only in states that set up exchanges under the law.