US Supreme Court leans toward upholding Obamacare
BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4377 (Published 11 November 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;371:m4377
- Janice Hopkins Tanne
- New York
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday (10 November) in the case attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. The court will issue its decision before the end of its term in June 2021.
Questions by two conservative justices, chief justice John Roberts Jr and associate justice Brett Kavanaugh, indicated that they were leaning toward preserving the act, as did comments by the liberal justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. This would suggest a 5-4 ruling in favor of preserving Obamacare. The other four justices are conservative.
Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s signature legislation to provide health insurance to more Americans, was passed in November 2010 with only Democrats voting in favor.1 President Donald Trump subsequently promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with …