In a major blow to opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — aka Obamacare — the United States Supreme Court upheld the ACA by an overwhelming 7-2 vote, slapping down a lawsuit that had been brought by several states controlled by Republicans.
The Hill reports:
“The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld ObamaCare against the latest Republican challenge, preserving the landmark law and its key protections for millions of people with preexisting health conditions.
“The justices ruled 7-2 that the GOP challengers lacked standing to sue, in a decision that marks the third major challenge to ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to be rebuffed by the Supreme Court in roughly a decade.
“The case arose after 18 Republican states brought a legal challenge in 2018 aimed at striking down the ACA.”
The lawsuit that was rejected by the justices, had been led by Texas and focused on the tax penalty imposed on those refuse to sign up for health insurance coverage. But that provision was rendered irrelevant when the 2017 Trump tax cut eliminated the provision.
However, according to Justice Stephen Breyer, the reason the high court rejected the suit is because the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the challenge:
“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.”
Breyer was joined by Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The two dissents were filed by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.
Today’s ruling is seen as the final challenge to the ACA and means it will remain the law of the land, which is wonderful news for millions of Americans who depend on the act for their health insurance.
Featured Image Via Wikimedia
