Post date: Jun 28, 2012 4:16:27 PM
WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (JUNE 28, 2012) (REUTERS) - The Supreme Court's historic ruling in favor of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul law drew the expected rounds of cheers and criticism, just minutes after the verdict was made public.
Moments after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld U.S. President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul law, proponents and critics expressed their views on the landmark ruling.
Supporters said the ruling was a step forward in healthcare reform in the United States.
"I've seen the suffering of people that have to worry about not having healthcare and it's not humane and I am so glad our country is finally on the path of sanity when it comes to healthcare," said Mary Beth, a nurse.
"We feel that the healthcare reform law has only been a good thing to help the rising cost of healthcare to help us all get towards a better healthcare system and if it had been overturned that would have been putting us back to square one. So we know that there are those people who are against it, their health plan is---eat an apple a day.Our's is let's begin the hard work of making healthcare better for all Americans," said Laura Feldman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicaid.
The upholding of the insurance purchase requirement, known as the "individual mandate," was a major election-year victory for Obama, a historic ruling on the law that aimed to extend coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans
Critics of the law said it meddles too much in the lives of individuals and in the business of the states.
"The individual mandate, forcing everybody to buy a one-size-fits-all plan is not constitutional, it's not what our founding fathers stood for and we need to repeal the bill in Congress," an unidentified protester said.
The Affordable Healthcare Act of 2012 is a sprawling piece of legislation and the centerpiece of Obama's domestic policy. The law seeks to repair elements of the American health care system, in which the cost of drugs and medical treatment is significantly greater than in the EU and which leaves hundreds of thousands of low-income individuals with less access to medical care.
Among the provisions of the law -- derided as "Obamacare" by the president's Republican opponents -- is the requirement that all Americans purchase a government-sponsored insurance plan. Opponents of the law see it as an unwelcome infringement of "big government" into their lives and a burden on the business community and the overall American economy. They launched multiple challenges in the lower courts to overturn the law which was escalated the the nation's highest court.
The Supreme Court decision, then, will play prominently in the run-up to the November election between Obama and Romney, and in dozens of races for congressional seats.