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The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed the Republican claim against the Affordable Care Act, and will maintain Barack Obama’s flagship health care reforms in a major Democratic victory.
In a 7-2 opinion released on Thursday, a nine-member court rejected an effort to repeal the cheap care law that provided health insurance coverage to tens of millions of previously uninsured Americans.
Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, along with two other Liberals, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, as well as four Conservatives: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Samuel Alito disagreed, along with Conservative Neil Gorsuch.
Thursday’s decision marked the third time that the nation’s highest court has rejected the challenges to the ACA, following rulings in 2012 and 2015. The latest case was directed by 18 states and two people in Texas. Donald Trumpena White House he presented an amicus certificate in favor of the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs discussed an “individual order” that originally required all Americans to have health insurance or pay a financial penalty.
In 2012 decision Holding the ACA, the Supreme Court said the lack of insurance could be characterized as a tax, making it a constitutional use of Congressional powers.
However, later Congress reduced the sentence to zero. The plaintiffs, who led Texas, sued, arguing that the mandate was no longer constitutional, and that the entire law should be repealed.
Most saw that the plaintiffs had no harm in giving them reasons to sue.
“To stand up, a plaintiff’ personal injury is alleged to have resulted in personal injury and is likely to be remedied with the assistance requested, ”Breyer wrote. “No whistleblower has been found here” to show a “fairly traceable” injury to the allegedly illegal conduct.
The decision in California and Texas is among the first rulings since Barrett took office last October, and gave the nation’s Supreme Court balance sheet, 6-3, in favor of jurists appointed by Republican presidents.
Some progressives have in recent weeks called for Breyer, the 82-year-old oldest justice, to retire, while Democratic President Joe Biden is nominated as a Liberal replacement while his party controls Congress. Supreme Court judges appoint presidents for life-long nominations, but their nominations must be ratified by a simple majority in the Senate.
Thursday’s ruling, however, stressed that judges do not always rule along ideological lines. Only two Republican-appointed jurists, Alito and Gorsuch, were opposed to the decision.
“Today’s decision is the third part of our epic Affordable Care Act trilogy, and follows the same pattern as the first and second parts,” Alito wrote against her. “In all three sections, when the affordable care law has been seriously threatened, the court has issued a bad bailout.”
The ACA, often referred to as “Obamacare,” was signed into law in 2010. The legislation divided public opinion, but in recent years it has become increasingly popular among American voters. It has faced a number of illegal challenges since its enactment, as well as Republican-led efforts to repeal the law in Congress.
“After more than a decade of the Affordable Care Act in Congress and the courts, today’s decision – the third major challenge for the U.S. law. The Supreme Court has denied it: it’s time to move forward and it’s time to continue building that benchmark law,” Biden said after the decision in the document made.
Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic House spokeswoman for the House of Representatives, said Thursday’s verdict was “an important victory for Republicans’ work to defend protections against people who already had the conditions to dismantle them.”
His remarks were echoed by Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, who vowed to base them on existing legislation. Democrats have called for the expansion of Medicaid (public health insurance for low-income Americans) among other health care reforms.
“Let me definitely say: the affordable care law has won, the Supreme Court has decided, the ACA is here to stay,” Schumer said.
White House chief of staff Ron Klain wrote on Twitter: “It’s still BFD,” an apparent reference to a moment in 2010 when Biden’s vice president signed the ACA law when Obama was heard whispering, “This is a huge deal.”
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