Affordable Care Act is here to stay, says Obama

Former US President Barack Obama on Thursday (local time) lauded the Supreme Court's decision on ObamaCare and said that this ruling reaffirms what we have long known to be true: the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay, ensuring health insurance for millions.

"Today, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. Again. This ruling reaffirms what we have long known to be true: the Affordable Care Act is here to stay," Obama tweeted.

"The principle of universal coverage has been established, and 31 million people now have access to care through the law we passed--with millions more who can no longer be denied coverage or charged more because of a preexisting condition," he tweeted further.

Obama also said that he hopes President Biden will continue to "strengthen and expand" the measure, adding that Biden has extended the special enrollment period until Aug. 15 for families to sign up.

"Now we need to build on the Affordable Care Act and continue to strengthen and expand it. That's what President Joe Biden has done through the American Rescue Plan, giving more families the peace of mind they deserve," Obama said.

And because he (Biden) extended the special enrollment period until August 15, anyone who needs coverage can go to http://HealthCare.gov and sign up, he added.

The Supreme Court has upheld ObamaCare against the latest Republican challenge, allowing millions to keep their health insurance coverage amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In a 7-2 decision, the nation's highest court ruled that the GOP challengers lacked standing to sue, in a decision that marks the third major challenge to ObamaCare, to be rebuffed by the Supreme Court in roughly a decade, thus preserving the landmark law and its key protections for millions of people with preexisting health conditions.

The case arose after 18 Republican states brought a legal challenge in 2018 aimed at striking down the ACA. Led by Texas, the Grand Old Party (GOP) challengers focused on the ObamaCare tax penalty meant to induce the purchase of health insurance by most Americans. They argued that former President Trump's 2017 tax cut, which zeroed out the penalty, made that provision unconstitutional.

Without the tax penalty, they argued, ObamaCare effectively lost its constitutional footing, requiring its invalidation by the court. But the justices did not even address those issues in their decision.

The Justice Department under Trump backed the GOP states in urging the justices to strike down the law. But the Biden administration reversed course. The Biden administration recently announced that a record 31 million people were covered under the law.Since the appointment of former US President Donald Trump in 2017, the Republican government had tried to strike down ObamaCare several times.

( With inputs from ANI )