OBAMACARE just survived yet another Republican-led challenge after the Supreme Court ruled against a Texas and 17 other states seeking to overturn the program.
After the ruling on Thursday, President Biden praised the decision, calling it a "major victory" for the millions of Americans who would have lost their healthcare, had the appeal gone through.
Which justices voted to uphold Obamacare?
Seven Supreme Court justices voted to overturn the Republican states' attack on Obamacare, while two voted in favor of it.
In a surprise move, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voted against the Republican states' effort in the ruling on Thursday.
Other justices who voted against the ruling included conservatives John Roberts and Clarence Thomas, as well as Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
Justice Breyer wrote in his opinion that Texas and the other states failed to link Obamacare to the "'allegedly unlawful conduct' of which they complain."
What did Biden say about the ruling?
In an official statement, Biden called the court's decision to uphold the policy "a major victory for all Americans benefitting from this groundbreaking and life-changing law."
The statement concluded, "Today’s decision affirms that the Affordable Care Act is stronger than ever, delivers for the American people, and gets us closer to fulfilling our moral obligation to ensure that, here in America, health care is a right and not a privilege."
The President tweeted a more humorous comment on the ruling: "With millions of people relying on the Affordable Care Act for coverage, it remains, as ever, a BFD. And it's here to stay."
"BFD" is a reference to the hot-mic moment during the initial signing of the bill when then-Vice President Biden was caught whispering to then-President Obama, "This is a big f**king deal."
Former President Obama also tweeted out to celebrate the upholding of what is widely considered the defining legislation of his presidency.
"Today, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. Again. This ruling reaffirms what we have long known to be true: the Affordable Care Act is here to stay."
How many times has Obamacare been challenged?
Obamacare has been challenged three times in the Supreme Court, including this week's most recent ruling.
In 2012, Obamacare was first challenged in the nation's highest court and was upheld with a much narrower majority ruling of 5-4.
However, during that ruling, the court limited the expansion of Medicaid and rejected the individual mandate.
Justice Kennedy, who voted to strike down the program, called the majority ruling in his dissent a "vast judicial overreaching."
The healthcare bill survived its second challenge in 2015, when the court voted 6-3 that Obamacare can give tax subsidies to help lower income Americans purchase health insurance.
In a written dissent, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who voted against Obamacare, called the majority decision "interpretive jiggery-pokery."
When was Obamacare first signed?
Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was first signed into law on March 23, 2010.
The bill set in place a mandate that guarantees healthcare for individuals under 65 and and earn a salary worth 138% or below of the Federal Poverty Level.
As of 2019, the Shared Responsibility Payment, a penalty fee for not buying into health insurance that was included in the original law, no longer applies.
The current law still includes important provisions such as allowing children to stay on their parents' plan until the age of 26, and ensuring that companies cannot charge female employees more for health insurance than their male counterparts.
Why do Republicans object to Obamacare?
Many Republican lawmakers have voiced opinions that Obamacare constitutes excessive government intrusion into the healthcare industry.
As of 2020, the Republican attorney generals of 18 states opposed the bill.
Trump also campaigned against Obamacare in 2016, and spent his presidency attempting to scrap the bill.
In 2020, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to revoke the law, calling it an "unlawful failure."
Noel Francisco, who led the Justice Department’s Office of the Solicitor General during the Trump administration, argued in a brief asking for the repeal of Obamacare that once the individual mandate was repealed, the law would fall apart.
"No further analysis is necessary; once the individual mandate and the guaranteed-issue and community-rating provisions are invalidated, the remainder of the ACA cannot survive.
"If the health insurance requirement is invalidated, then it necessarily follows that the rest of the ACA must also fall."
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