Obamacare set to be challenged at Supreme Court

The Affordable Care Act – often referred to as Obamacare – was enacted 10 years ago. However, the Supreme Court looks set to hear a challenge to the healthcare act, which provided millions of Americans with insurance, when it begins its next term in the fall.

A decision on the challenge to repeal Obamacare is expected by 2021. The case itself revolves around the mandate enshrined in the law which required all Americans to be insured. This mandate was removed from law after the Republican Party performed an overhaul of tax codes in 2017. As a result, Republican-held states filed a lawsuit claiming that this individual mandate was unconstitutional, after having made the changes to tax code law. It is the argument of the Republican Party that the mandate cannot be separated from law, and as a result, Obamacare must be abolished.

If they succeed, the GOP will essentially upend the entire healthcare system and remove insurance from millions of Americans. Political commentators have suggested that the move would ultimately damage the Republican cause, as after a decade of implementation many people are familiar with how the Obamacare system works and the upheaval could potentially lose the party millions of votes at the next election.