WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court of United Stateson Thursday upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ObamaCare, promoted by President Barack Obama, ensuring that 6.4 million people can continue to receive subsidies that allow them to purchase healthcare plans.
The 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts is a huge victory for Obama. It affirmed that consumers purchasing health insurance on the federal exchange in roughly 34 states will continue to be able to do so.
With his healthcare legacy secure, Obama cast the Supreme Court ruling upholding ACA as a historic and emphatic declaration that the law has now been "woven into the fabric of America."
"This is reality," Obama said in a celebratory statement in the Rose Garden of White House, calling the court's ruling a victory for hard-working Americans. "This law is now helping tens of millions of Americans."
It was the second time ACA had survived Supreme Court scrutiny after the court also upheld key elements in ACA in 2012. The law has also repeatedly survived repeal attempts by Republican opponents in Congress, who criticize the ObamaCare as a "job- killer", saying the act may cause more Americans to work few hours, drop out of the workforce or delay returning to work, which will cost the United States the equivalent of 2.3 million full-time positions by 2021.
On various occasions before the Supreme Court ruling, Obama expressed deep disappointment in the political attacks against the law, which he described as "ceaseless, endless partisan attempts to roll back progress."
Aligning with Obama's complains, the White House rolled out a new website dedicated to healthcare reform that features more than 30 testimonials from people who benefited from the law.
It includes a timeline of healthcare reform starting from 1912, when then-President Theodore Roosevelt first campaigned on " national insurance." It also includes 18 events from Obama's tenure, from his joint speech to Congress announcing his reform plans in 2009 to this year's signup period, during which about 10 million people were enrolled in the reform.
For Thursday's ruling decision, Roberts noted that "Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them. If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter. "
In public, ObamaCare challengers argued that the Affordable Care Act only allowed subsidies to be used in marketplaces " established by the state," which they said excluded those on the federal marketplace.
ObamaCare supporters, on the other hand, argued that conservatives were taking the four-word clause out of context and that those involved in drafting the law had intended the subsidies to be available in all states.
When the decision was released Thursday morning, dozens of people at the steps of the Supreme Court cheered and continued chanting in celebration. The supporters updated posters with numbers of those affected by the decision in each of the 34 states with stickers reading "still covered."
Ann Benitez with the Washington-based healthcare institute told Xinhua that ACA is now a stable part of America's health care system.
"In the future, I think we're going to have a huge increase in the number of people who will benefit from ACA," she said.
So far, a total of about 34 states use the federal HealthCare. gov website, with an estimated 6.4 million people getting subsidies there that help them purchase insurance. With more people enrolled in the ACA, the total number of people benefiting from the bill is predicted to be over 10 million.
