Supreme Court Issues Major Ruling on Obamacare
The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, leaving Obamacare unchanged following a challenge from a group of GOP-led states.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion with Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court rejects the constitutional challenge to Obamacare in 7-2 opinion. The court tosses the lawsuit because the challengers do not have legal standing to sue. https://t.co/meuQgPE50Z
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 17, 2021
Breyer wrote, “We conclude that the plaintiffs in this suit failed to show a concrete, particularized injury fairly traceable to the defendants’ conduct in enforcing the specific statutory provision they attack as unconstitutional.
“They have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act’s minimum essential coverage provision. Therefore, we reverse the Fifth Circuit’s judgment in respect to standing, vacate the judgment, and remand the case with instructions to dismiss.”
The Affordable Care Act stands. Justice BREYER writes the majority opinion. He’s joined by the other two liberals (Sotomayor & Kagan) as well as three conservatives (Roberts, Thomas, & Barrett). Alito and Gorsuch dissent.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 17, 2021
In Alito’s dissent, he wrote, “Today’s decision is the third installment in our epic Affordable Care Act trilogy, and it follows the same pattern as installments one and two. In all three episodes, with the Affordable Care Act facing a serious threat, the Court has pulled off an improbable rescue.”
SCOTUSblog explained that “Texas and a group of other states with Republican leaders, as well as two men who did not want to buy health insurance, went to federal court, arguing that the mandate had been reduced to a command to buy health insurance and was unconstitutional because it could no longer be justified as a tax.
“And if the mandate is no longer constitutional, they contended, the rest of the ACA must also fall.”
The Department of Health and Human Services reported earlier this month that a record 31 million Americans have Obamacare, according to CNN.
President Joe Biden, an ardent supporter of the Affordable Care Act, described the ruling as “a big win for the American people.”
A big win for the American people.
There’s no better day than today to sign up for quality, affordable health care at https://t.co/gRX1fGFEzj.
With millions of people relying on the Affordable Care Act for coverage, it remains, as ever, a BFD. And it’s here to stay. https://t.co/5GPl9aR8uB
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 17, 2021
Biden signed an executive order in January creating a special enrollment period for Obamacare.
“Based on this Executive Order, it is expected that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will open HealthCare.gov for a ‘Special Enrollment Period,’ from February 15, 2021 — May 15, 2021.
“This Special Enrollment Period will give Americans that need health care coverage during this global pandemic the opportunity to sign up,” according to a White House fact sheet.
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