par Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – The United States Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Republican Party backed by the administration of former President Donald Trump to strike down the so-called Obamacare reform of the healthcare system, ruling that Texas and 17 other states had no legal authority to file a complaint.
The decision, taken by a majority of 7 to 2 and drafted by progressive judge Stephen Breyer, did not resolve the substantive legal questions of whether a key provision of the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA) – commonly dubbed ” Obamacare “named after former Democratic President Barack Obama – is unconstitutional and so, if so, the entire text should be deleted.
The provision at issue, called “individual warrant,” requires Americans to purchase health insurance or, if not, pay a financial penalty.
This is the third time that the Supreme Court has decided to preserve Obamacare since its enactment in 2010.
“A great victory for the American people”, reacted via Twitter the president Joe Biden, who was the vice-president of Barack Obama whose ACA is the flagship measure.
Last February, the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden urged America’s highest court to maintain Obamacare, marking a turning point from the position of its predecessor Donald Trump, who stepped down in January.
Republicans, staunchly opposed to Obamacare since the drafting of the bill, failed to repeal it when they controlled both houses of Congress, nor to obtain an invalidation in the courts.
The Trump administration has, however, taken steps to hamper Obamacare. In 2017, she enacted a tax law eliminating the financial penalty provided by the individual mandate, which, according to the Republican appeal, made the provision of Obamacare illegal.
Joe Biden has pledged to expand access to health care by relying on Obamacare, criticizing Republicans’ efforts to suppress the law even as the United States battles the coronavirus epidemic.
If the law is removed, up to 20 million Americans could lose health coverage and insurers could once again refuse to reimburse care for people with pre-existing medical conditions. (Lawrence Hurley, with Trevor Hunnicutt; French version Diana Mandi, said by Jean Terzian)
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