The Court Case That Could Crush Obama's Legacy

President Obama's time in office has yielded several major changes, though none more talked about than the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare.

The complete overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system made health insurance mandatory for U.S. citizens and provided government subsidies to make it easier to afford for low income families.

However, a Supreme Court case set to be resolved this month could tear down the insurance initiative Obama fought to build, taking hospitals, drug makers and insurers with it.

What Happened?

The case is focused on interpreting a law which provided individual states with subsidies to support healthcare insurance marketplaces.

The law says that the subsidies will be provided to states which establish their own insurance marketplaces, but several states instead relied on healthcare.gov, the federal government's marketplace.

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While the IRS saw fit to extend those subsidies to states using healthcare.gov, the Supreme Court may not— meaning those subsidies would be revoked.

Who Will Hurt

For one, low income families will be impacted if the Supreme Court rules against Obamacare. Many expect that without the added financial help, insurance will be too costly and families with below average incomes will terminate their insurance contracts.

This outcome would be costly to insurers like Anthem ANTM as the company heavily participates in the healthcare exchange.

The company would loose many of its new enrollees as about half of the states covered by Anthem have been using the federal exchange.

Hospitals Bear The Brunt

However, hospitals are expected to be the biggest losers if the Supreme Court rules against Obamacare.

Forcing the public to participate in the healthcare exchange increased the volume of patients at most major hospitals and helped boost the bottom line by eliminating many of the write-off costs associated with an uninsured patients.