The Supreme Court today threw out a Texas challenge to the Affordable Care Act, ruling the GOP states seeking to derail the law lacked standing to sue over a $0 penalty adopted by Congress.
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The 7-2 ruling is the third time the nation's highest court has preserved the 2010 law, colmmonly referred to as "Obamacare".
The Majority of judges ruled that:
- Texas, and other Republican-led states and two individuals had no right to bring their lawsuit in federal court.
- The law’s major provisions include protections for people with pre-existing health conditions, a range of no-cost preventive services and the expansion of the Medicaid program.
- The ruling left in place the law’s requirement that people have health insurance or pay a penalty. Congress rendered that provision irrelevant in 2017 when it reduced the penalty to zero.
- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh all sided with the high court's liberal justices in the ruling.
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