U.S. Supreme Court rules in favour of Obama’s healthcare reform

Hannah Blake

pharmaphorum

Healthcare insurance is a highly debated subject in the United States, so when Obama signed The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), often dubbed Obamacare, into law in March 2010, over 25 states immediately filed a legal challenge against the bill. However this week, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a vote of 5 – 4 in favour of Obama’s call for healthcare reform in the U.S.

The healthcare sector makes up one-sixth of the United States economy. The aim of the Obamacare is to extend medical coverage to around 30 million uninsured people in the U.S., paving the way for the establishment of state-based insurance exchanges by 2014. One of the major impacts of the decision is that the 129 million people with pre-existing medical conditions in the U.S. will have the security of affordable health coverage.

“Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it.”

Barack Obama, in a televised address from The White House.

However the court did not uphold the whole law. The expansion of the Medicaid health insurance plan was declared unconstitutional, because it would require states to expand coverage or lose all federal Medicaid funding.

Although nothing has been officially decided yet regarding the U.S. health changes, the Supreme Court’s rule in favour will help ensure that the debate over healthcare will play a central role in this year’s presidential campaign.