About 17.6 million people have gained health insurance coverage through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a recent report from the Department of Health & Human Services. The numbers also represent a decrease in the country’s uninsured rate from 38 percent all the way down to about 12.6 percent.

McClatchyDC: “About 15.3 million gained insurance either through marketplace coverage, non-marketplace individual coverage or through Medicaid, the state/federal health plan for low-income Americans. The remaining 2.3 million young adults ages 19-25 secured coverage under a health law provision that lets them remain on a parent’s plan until age 26.”

The next marketplace enrollment period begins November 1.

In the coming weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on an important part of the Affordable Care Act, determining whether individuals who purchased insurance through the federal healthcare exchange may receive the same subsidies as those who went through a state exchange.

Depending on how things go, the court’s ruling could have a significant impact on the ACA. However, Oregon legislators say the state is in a good position, thanks largely to the fact that it addressed the issue when it transferred Cover Oregon (the state’s doomed exchange) to the federal government last year.

Regardless, the pending decision could make obtaining affordable health insurance much more difficult for millions of people throughout the United States.

Oregon Public Broadcasting: “About 7 million people across more than 30 states are eligible for these tax subsidies. If they can no longer get them, many won’t be able to afford insurance anymore. And without them, prices would rise for everyone else.”