The challengers of the act stated they would continue their fight to invalidate the Affordable Care Act.
A recent judgment passed by the US Supreme Court stated that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, remains valid. According to NBC News, the ruling came after a group of conservatives claimed that the recent changes in law made the act unconstitutional.
While two of the judges took a stand against the validity of the healthcare act, seven judges voted to support it. As per NPR, the opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer was backed by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican bid that had been backed by former President Donald Trump's administration to invalidate the Obamacare healthcare law https://t.co/2Ql3jQzB1z pic.twitter.com/rTbyyl6Jq0
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 17, 2021
Texas and 17 other Republican-led states wanted the courts to rule against the act's requirement that pushed all Americans to get health insurance or instead, pay an income tax penalty. They claimed that the instruction known as the individual mandate is unconstitutional. Therefore, urged the courts to scrap the entire law.
However, Justice Breyer stated, "The plaintiffs claim that without the penalty the act's minimum essential coverage requirement is unconstitutional. They also argue that the minimum essential coverage requirement is not severable from the rest of the act."
He added, "We do not reach these questions of the act's validity, however, for Texas and the other plaintiffs in this suit lack the standing necessary to raise them."
The ruling was well received by the Democrats. President Joe Biden referred to it as "a major victory for all Americans benefitting from this groundbreaking and life-changing law."
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 7-2 to reject a Republican bid that had been backed by former president Donald Trump's administration to invalidate the Obamacare health-care law. https://t.co/ketSmAi9r3
— CBC News (@CBCNews) June 17, 2021
He added, "After more than a decade of attacks on the Affordable Care Act through the Congress and the courts, today's decision — the third major challenge to the law that the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected — it is time move forward and keep building on this landmark law."
Former President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the healthcare act in 2010, also welcomed the court's decision. "This ruling reaffirms what we have long known to be true: the Affordable Care Act is here to stay. Now we need to build on the Affordable Care Act and continue to strengthen and expand it," Obama added.
"That's what President Biden has done through the American Rescue Plan, giving more families the peace of mind they deserve. And because he extended the special enrollment period until August 15th, anyone who needs coverage can go to healthcare.gov and sign up," he said.
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Trump-backed challenge to Obamacare https://t.co/X4OFVFCffz
— Simon Robinson (@iron_emu) June 17, 2021
Meanwhile, those that challenged the law argued that they would continue fighting the act. According to Reuters, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the challenge reiterated that the act "was unconstitutional when it was enacted and it is still unconstitutional."
A push back to Obamacare would have led to the insurance loss of at least 20 million Americans. Also, reinsuring did not cover the charges of people with pre-existing medical conditions.
References:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-spares-obamacare-gop-challenge-n1271140
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/988837265/obamacare-wins-for-the-3rd-time-at-the-supreme-court
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Joe Raedle
