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The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed by 18 Republican states to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
The lawsuit, argued that the law became unconstitutional after the tax penalty for people who do not buy health insurance was removed. The Supreme Court dismissed it in a 7-2 ruling because the states lack the standing to sue.
"We do not reach these questions of the Act's validity, however, for Texas and the other plaintiffs in this suit lack the standing necessary to raise them," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the majority. "For these reasons, we conclude that the plaintiffs in this suit failed to show a concrete, particularized injury fairly traceable to the defendants' conduct in enforcing the specific statutory provision they attack as unconstitutional. They have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act's minimum essential coverage provision."
The two justices that ruled against were Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.
"Today's decision is the third installment in our epic Affordable Care Act trilogy, and it follows the same pattern as installments one and two," Alito wrote. "In all three episodes, with the Affordable Care Act facing a serious threat, the Court has pulled off an improbable rescue."