US Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Affordable Care Act In 7-2 Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed the latest effort to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare.

What Happened: In a 7-2 decision, the justices reversed an appeals court ruling that struck down the 2010 law’s individual mandate provision. In reaching their decision, the justices ruled that the challengers to the law — a coalition of 18 Republican-led states — did not possess the legal right to bring the case and failed to show how they were harmed by it.

"For these reasons, 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," wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the court’s decision. "They have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act's minimum essential coverage provision."

Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch were the dissenters in the ruling, which was the third time the Supreme Court accepted a case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA.

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What Happened Next: The Biden Administration swiftly congratulated the court on its ruling.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling once again underscored the incredible strength of the ACA,” said the White House through its Twitter Inc TWTR account. “A record 31 million people have enrolled in health care through the law — 1.2 million more signed up using the special enrollment period, open through 8/15.”

The ruling was also a personal defeat for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the Republican states in their challenge to the ACA. Breyer pointed to the Lone Star State in specifically noting that “Texas and the other plaintiffs in this suit lack the standing necessary to raise them.”

This is the second Supreme Court defeat for Paxton in six months, following the justices’ refusal in December to hear his attempt to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in four states.

(Photo via SupremeCourt.gov)