"Should the Supreme Court's eventual ruling in King v. Burwell result in people losing insurance subsidies, the affected individuals will have options for maintaining their coverage or choosing replacement coverage. Congress can also reinforce that through oversight hearings, appropriations, or legislation," the foundation said in a post on its website.  

Among the options available to subsidy losers:

Special enrollment period: If the ruling triggers loss of coverage due to loss of a subsidy, those affected won't have to wait for the traditional fall enrollment to seek new coverage. Congress has provided a new window for these folks so they can explore other options.

Substitute coverage protections: Congress has also mandated that someone whose coverage plan disappears automatically qualifies for a similar coverage plan within the state of residence.  "Individuals could stay with their current plans or could switch to less expensive plans," Heritage says.

Discontinued coverage protections: If an insurer that specialized in selling to individuals with subsidies decided it could no longer afford to do business with the subsidized clients, other protections for the insured have been put in place. "The enrollee would then qualify for a special enrollment period and thus be given an opportunity to choose replacement coverage from among any of the other plans offered in the exchange in his state by other insurers," Heritage says.

It also notes that such insurers would face sanctions that might discourage them from folding up shop in a state, so new coverage would be available through the same insurer.

"Of course, some might still not be able to afford the unsubsidized premium even if they switched to a less expensive plan," Heritage acknowledged.

What then? Heritage has the answer to that, too:

"As a first step to help them, Congress can contribute to bringing premiums back down by exempting individuals, employers and plans from the costly benefit mandates and age-rating rules imposed by the ACA — especially in those states where the ACA subsidies are not available. That would allow for a rational market to form and thus provide a clearer understanding of the need for assistance."