Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act

June 17, 2021 — The Supreme Court dismissed a major challenge to the Affordable Care Act, upholding the national health care law for the third time.

The case, California v. Texas, argued that after the elimination of individual penalties in 2017 for not maintaining health insurance, the entire law must be struck down. Many legal scholars viewed the argument as weak, and the justices decided that Obamacare can still exist without the penalty for lacking health coverage.

The court voted 7-2 to block the GOP-led suit saying the plaintiffs did not have the right to bring the case. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito were the lone dissenters. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, celebrated the ruling. 

“The Affordable Care Act has won. The Supreme Court has just ruled: the ACA is here to stay and now we’re going to try to make it bigger and better,” according to CNN. “”For more than a decade, the assault on our health care law was relentless from Republicans in Congress, from the executive branch itself and from Republican attorneys general in the courts.. Each time in each arena, the ACA has prevailed.”

This is a developing story. Please return for updates.