The Affordable Care Act lives on after a 7-2 Supreme Court ruling on Jun. 17 upheld the 2010 health-care law.
The GOP has argued that the law is "invalid" after the 2017 tax law that eliminated the penalty for not having health insurance. Some members of the Republican party distanced themselves from the ruling while others were vocal about their disappointments.
“It’s a shame the highest court in the country ruled today that Americans aren’t harmed by this broken law,” North Carolina state Rep. Virginia Foxx, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, said in a statement. “Obamacare’s individual mandate restricts Americans’ freedoms by forcing them to purchase coverage they don’t want and can’t afford. Today, the court again missed the mark by ignoring the negative impacts Obamacare and its mandates have on our nation’s health-care system.”
The rate of Americans who were uninsured went up to 10.9% after the Trump administration reduced advertising about insurance coverage and took action to discourage enrollment.
Democratic leaders sang a different tune than their Republican counterparts, celebrating the victory in court.
“Yet again, Republican ideological fantasies to turn back the clock on American health care have been defeated,” Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), said in a statement. “This ill-begotten lawsuit was filed with one goal in mind: throw the American health-care system into chaos. Now that this tired crusade has once again failed, it is time for Congress to get to work building on the strides that have already been taken to make health care in America affordable and accessible for all.”
It is the Supreme Court's third major ruling on the law, Roll Call reported.
“With yet another court decision upholding the ACA now behind us, we remain committed to strengthening the current law and look forward to policymakers advancing solutions to improve the ACA,” Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement.
