Washington (AFP)

The United States Supreme Court on Thursday refused to strike down Barack Obama's flagship health insurance law, leaving health coverage for millions of Americans in place.

His decision, taken by a majority of seven out of nine judges, represents an ex post facto snub for former President Donald Trump who tried by all means to suppress the emblematic law of his predecessor.

This is the third time, since its adoption in 2010, that the Court has validated this law hated by Republicans.

This time, her judgment is based on a procedural argument: according to her, Texas and the other Republican states which brought the appeal were not justified in doing so.

New Democratic President Joe Biden had deemed "cruel" this ultimate attempt to overturn a law that proved particularly useful during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The court's decision was greeted with enthusiasm in the Democratic ranks.

The head of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is delighted that this law "survives as a pillar of health and economic security" of the country and hailed a "historic victory" for the Democrats.

"Despite desperate attacks by the radical right to deprive millions of Americans of care, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is constitutional and will remain in place," Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted.

- "Keystone" -

In its original form, Obamacare required all Americans, even those in good health, to purchase insurance on pain of financial penalties and required companies to insure all potential customers, regardless of their health.

This reform made it possible to provide health coverage to 31 million Americans who had not previously had it, but Republicans have always viewed compulsory insurance as an abuse of government power.

Their first appeal was therefore against this "individual mandate".

The Supreme Court had validated it in 2012, ruling that the financial penalties could be considered as taxes and justified the intervention of the State.

When he arrived at the White House, Donald Trump tried to repeal the law in Congress but suffered a stinging setback.

Republican elected officials, however, managed to amend it in 2017, and reduced the fines for lack of insurance to zero.

# photo1

Several republican states had then introduced new legal remedies, arguing that the law no longer held.

In December 2018, a federal judge in Texas had agreed with them: "the keystone" of the building having fallen, the whole law is unconstitutional, he had decided.

It is this decision that the Supreme Court overturned Thursday.

"We have not decided the question of the validity of the law, but Texas and the other plaintiffs are not competent to ask it," wrote progressive judge Stephen Breyer on behalf of the majority of his colleagues.

- "On a mission" -

The three judges appointed by Donald Trump have joined their voices with those of their three progressive colleagues and the head of the court to form this majority, which is also a setback for the former president, to whom the new court has failed. offered significant victories.

Obamacare had however been the main angle of attack of elected Democrats during the stormy confirmation process of conservative magistrate Amy Coney Barrett in October, just before the presidential election.

# photo2

She "said she wanted to get rid" of this law, accused Joe Biden, who had put health issues at the heart of his election campaign.

Congress officials posted large photos of Obamacare beneficiaries during his hearing.

"I am not hostile" to this law, nor "on a mission to destroy it", she had defended herself.

Without convincing at the time.

But in the end, she voted well with the majority.

Already in December, the new Court had already disappointed Donald Trump by refusing to invalidate his presidential defeat.

But she recently accepted files on the carrying of weapons and abortion, suggesting that she could influence its jurisprudence in a direction favorable to the conservatives on these very controversial subjects in the United States.

© 2021 AFP