WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court dismissed a major challenge to the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, leaving intact a law that provides health insurance coverage for millions of Americans.
By a 7-2 vote, the justices left the entire law intact. They ruled that Texas, other GOP-led states, and two individuals had no right to bring their lawsuit in federal court.
The ruling means that the justices won’t rule on the merits of the lawsuit, allowing the law to stand.
This is the third time the Supreme Court has upheld the law since President Barack Obama signed his administration’s landmark legislation in 2010. Opponents of the law had hoped that a more conservative court — with three Trump appointees — would finally kill off the law they have been fighting against for more than a decade.
Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh split their votes. Kavanaugh and Barrett joined the majority. Gorsuch and Justice Samuel Alito dissented.
The ACA, popularly known as “Obamacare,” includes protections for people with pre-existing health conditions, a range of no-cost preventive services, and expanded Medicaid.
The Biden administration says 31 million people have health insurance because of the law.
The law previously required those without health insurance to pay a penalty, but in 2017, Congress gutted that provision by reducing the penalty to zero. The plaintiffs in this latest legal challenge argued that without that mandate, the rest of the law should fall, too.
In the majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that the states and people who filed the federal lawsuit “have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act’s minimum essential coverage provision.”
In dissent, Alito wrote, “Today’s decision is the third installment in our epic Affordable Care Act trilogy, and it follows the same pattern as installments one and two. In all three episodes, with the Affordable Care Act facing a serious threat, the Court has pulled off an improbable rescue.” Alito was a dissenter in the two earlier cases, as well.
Like Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas was in dissent in the two earlier cases, but he joined Thursday’s majority, writing, “Although this Court has erred twice before in cases involving the Affordable Care Act, it does not err today.”
Read the Supreme Court’s Decision
