Healthcare Reform: A Victory for the Democratic Camp

Barack Obama’s main reform is going to be approved almost in full by the Supreme Court.

The “decision of the century” has come to fruition – the Supreme Court gave its verdict. More than two years after its adoption by the United States’ Congress, the main reform of Barack Obama, the king of health insurance, was approved in its essence. The largest reform of the Democratic president, who is right in the midst of his re-election campaign in November, aims to assure the medical coverage for 32 million Americans who are without it.

“I believe it was right to make sure that everybody in this country gets decent health care and is not bankrupt when they get sick,” was emphasized this week by President Obama, who is already campaigning. The survival of even his greatest reform had been up in the air. From a record three-day hearing in March to three months of deliberations and debates that roused passions, the Democratic camp, which is in a country obsessed with the defense of individual rights, has reason to rejoice.

Dramatic Turn of Events

At the heart of the controversy is an enactment that requires all Americans to acquire medical coverage before 2014 or risk monetary fines. Those in opposition invoke an article of the Constitution, the “Commerce Clause,” which authorizes Congress to regulate commercial exchanges but, they believe, cannot force anyone to buy anything.

On the day before the nine justices’ decision, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, announced that the Republican majority would reject “everything that’s left” of the law.

But a dramatic turn of events happened! The conservative Chief Justice of the Court comes around to the enemy and is won over by the majority. John Roberts saves the law, joining in with the votes of four progressive justices of the nine who make up the Supreme Court. The highest jurisdiction of the United States thus validates the reform almost in its totality, to “general surprise” confides a member of the Democratic Party to Point.fr.

“A Great Day for America”

“Today we answered the call of history,” declared Barack Obama during the adoption of the law in March 2010. “We proved that this government – a government for the people and by the people – still works for the people.” The decision had additionally been welcomed by cheers in front of the Supreme Court where a thousand people had gathered. “It’s a great day for America,” said a supporter of the law. “One can be certain now that everyone will have health insurance.” The verdict will affect millions of Americans because the main piece of the reform, the obligation for every American to acquire health insurance, was approved.

This Democratic victory puts the president at center stage with four months to the presidential election in November. The American press refers to it as a “striking victory for the president.” This judgment has, in effect, all likelihood to weigh in on November’s presidential election, confides a member of the Democratic Party to Point.fr.

Downsides

The only downside is that the highest jurisdiction in the country provided a limit to the extension of aid to the poorest (that being 16 million people), which more than half the states equally contested but would have otherwise bankrupted the States, according to the Court. It is thus up to each governor to take or leave this decision according to his financial limits.

To this, one can add the position of the Republicans, who are hardly poor underdogs. Without waiting, the head of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, promised to fight to repeal the law. Mitt Romney, who had even instituted similar legislation in Massachusetts when he was governor, promised that if the Supreme Court does not repeal the text, he will hasten to do something about it upon his entry to the White House.