Obamacare. For the past several years, you haven’t been able to go anywhere in our country without hearing about it, and it just got a whole lot more attention. Yesterday, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled in favor of President Obama’s health care reform. Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was designed to increase the quality and affordability of public healthcare in the United States. It established new minimum standards for insurance companies to uphold in order to cover all of their applicants and provide equal rates, regardless of pre-existing conditions of sex. The law has been one of the most controversial legislations in recent memory, as is threatened to further wedge the philosophical gap between Republicans and Democrats.
The Supreme Court ruling came after a discrepancy among the interpretation of particular clauses within the law, which was hastily crafted by Congress and had not been granted the opportunity to make adjustments in the messy language. The case was meant to determine if states that do not have their own insurance exchange and rely on the federal insurance exchange would be eligible for federal subsidies. If the law had not been upheld, it would have left approximately 6.4 million Americans without government subsidies to afford their healthcare. American citizens must learn to adapt to these healthcare reforms, as they are here to stay. The Supreme Court’s ruling means that it will take an Act of Congress and a future President’s signature to overrule Obamacare.
Republican officials had no fear of voicing their disapproval with the ruling. Florida Senator Marco Rubio denounced the law in its entirety, “I disagree with the Court’s ruling and believe they have once again erred in trying to correct the mistakes made by President Obama and Congress in forcing Obamacare on the American people.” He even alluded to his own proposed health care system, “I remain committed to repealing this bad law and replacing it with my consumer-centered plan that puts patients and families back in control of their health care decisions.” Several Republican states have neglected to create their own insurance exchanges simply because they do not wish to support President Obama’s reforms in any way.
