Supreme Court rejects challenge to Obamacare health care law

The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a long-anticipated decision, upheld the Affordable Care Act in a case challenging the individual mandate in Obamacare.

The Supreme Court on Thursday, in long-anticipated decision, rejected a challenge to the Affordable Care Act in a case involving whether the individual mandate can be severed from the rest of the law -- or whether the whole law must be struck down. The court ruled 7-2, with Justice Stephen Breyer writing for the majority, striking down a lower court ruling, saying the plaintiffs -- Texas and other GOP-led states -- did not have standing to sue. "We conclude that the plaintiffs in this suit failed to show a concrete, particularized injury fairly traceable to the defendants’ conduct in enforcing the specific statutory provision they attack as unconstitutional. They have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act’s minimum essential coverage provision. Therefore, we reverse the Fifth Circuit’s judgment in respect to standing, vacate the judgment, and remand the case with instructions to dismiss," Breyer wrote. A record 31 million Americans have health care coverage connected to Obamacare right now, as well as 54 million Americans with preexisting conditions, all of which is preserved by the court essentially enforcing the status quo.