The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, in a ruling Thursday that said the federal government can pay subsidies to people who by insurance coverage through the federal web site, instead of through state-established exchanges. The law specfically states that subsidies will be paid for policies purchased through exchanges “established by the state.”

Opponents of the law sued, claiming that wording prohibits subsidies for policies purchased through the federal government. Some 6.4 million people would have lost their subsidies because they live in states that refused to establish their own exchanges.

The Court ruled 6-3 that the federal subsidies do not depend on where people live. Looking at the law as a whole, the intent is clearly to decrease the number of uninsured and provide subsidies for those who need it. Enforcing those four words would push out people who cannot afford to buy insurance on their own, and would create financial turmoil in the health insurance industry, which is relying on the extra policy holders to cover the cost of covering pre-existing conditions and children up to age 26.

The ruling is an affirmation of a poorly written law, one that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said would have to be passed “so we can find out what is in it.”