Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act
Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act. In a 5–4 decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld the President's Affordable Care Act.
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9:27 a.m. The United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 today to uphold President Barack Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the Court’s liberal wing of Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor to uphold one of the President’s signature accomplishments.
This means all provisions of the law including the individual mandate requiring all Americans without health care to purchase it will take effect.
Update: 10 a.m. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) called today historic with the decision of the United States Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act considering it the most significant law Congress has passed in the last 50 years.
“The law ends insurance industry abuses in the health system, improves Medicare and Medicaid for seniors and the disabled, and covers millions of uninsured Americans,” Schakowsky said in a prepared statement.
According to Schakowsky, more than 86 million Americans have already benefitted from the new law including 6.6 million people under 26 who can remain on their parents’ existing coverage. She thinks it should be a start not a finish.
“This positive decision by the nation’s highest court in the land should resolve any doubts that Congress can and should act to ensure that Americans get the health care they need at a price they can afford,” Schakowsky said. “It will allow us to move forward and maintain our commitment to real health care security.”
The Court’s decision means when the law is fully in place in two more years, people can no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. “No longer will families be bankrupt because someone gets sick,” Schakowsky said. “People with mental illness will get the care they need.”
(Update at 11:55) Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park) fears today’s United States Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama’s Affordable Care Act will threaten the country’s economic recovery, according to a statement issued by his office.
Kirk called for repeal of the law. He wants to replace it with reforms that will foster competition in the insurance industry and give people more options purchasing protection.
“The health care law threatens our economic recovery by raising taxes, imposing new regulations and creating a drag on the economy," Kirk said in the statement. "Congress replace it with common sense, centrist reforms that give Americans the right to buy insurance across state lines and expand coverage without raising taxes.”
RMG
11:45 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
This country is going to hell! I'm sorry this is NOT good news!
Petra Zagat
12:30 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
RMG, you wouldn't be saying this if you had pre-existing conditions and got turned down by insurance companies! You are a spoiled jerk! Many poor families need to have this!
McCloud
1:04 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Poor families will get nothing unless they pay. What part of this do you not understand? You can get good coverage with the state pre-ex plan already, without Obamacare. You should read and think prior to voicing an opinion. Obamacare debt will crush the many poor families.
Bob Stock
4:18 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Perhaps you should follow your own advice about reading and thinking prior to voicing an opinion. Exactly how will it crush anyone?
Petra Zagat
1:21 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
McCloud, it will be VERY AFFORDABLE for poor families!!! And if they are too poor they will still get Medicade. Now everyone can pay into the system and get care. So I guess you think what we have now is perfect? Those are the families that go to the emergency room, and YOU end up paying for it! I bet you are one of those republicans who want the poor to die and the wealthy to fluorish!
McCloud
1:37 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Yeah, the system is perfect, the poor need to die, the wealthy need more money, and kids need to starve. Good grief, its too late you are unreachable.
McCloud
7:28 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Bob, do you even know the meaning of the word trillion? Astronomers were accustomed to these types of numbers, and now we have people who shrug shoulders without true conception of what a trillion acually is. Obama has added 5 trillion to our national debt, which is now about 16 trillion. This is troubling enough, but looking at the unfunded liability for both social security and medicare is around $125 trillion in the next 20 years. Adding Obamacare dwarfs any of the previous numbers stated, we just don't know yet since they had to pass the bill to know what is in it.
McCloud
7:28 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Bob, do you even know the meaning of the word trillion? Astronomers were accustomed to these types of numbers, and now we have people who shrug shoulders without true conception of what a trillion acually is. Obama has added 5 trillion to our national debt, which is now about 16 trillion. This is troubling enough, but looking at the unfunded liability for both social security and medicare is around $125 trillion in the next 20 years. Adding Obamacare dwarfs any of the previous numbers stated, we just don't know yet since they had to pass the bill to know what is in it.
Petra Zagat
7:45 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
McCloud, eight years of Bush put us in debt!!! You expect Obama to magically take away the debt left by his predecessor?
Say it isn't so
5:33 am on Friday, June 29, 2012
One up- Are you an American Citizen? Were you born here? Do you understand that the Fed and State are broke? Why would you suffocate whats left of the economy?
The Oracle
8:38 am on Friday, June 29, 2012
I wonder if each of the poster here as actually read the Opinion.
This is a clear victory for conservatives in that the Court set strict limits on use of the commerce clause and unfunded mandates.
With regard to the former, Congress cannot use the clause to regulate non-activity while with regard to the latter, Congress cannot mandate States to provide expanded Medicare services under the Affordable Care Act.
Lock Nelson
10:14 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
You need to stop putting lipstick on a pig. The Supreme Court action cannot be seen as a "clear victory" for conservatives. There is NOTHING the Tea Party wanted more than the full legislation to be struck down my the court. End of story. That did not happen - and I dont have to read an oipinon to figure that out.