Photo via CNBC
***
For the fourth time in a row, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, is now facing a legal challenge by the U.S. Supreme Court over its provision of free preventative healthcare services. The decision the Supreme Court will make on this matter will determine whether the 24 million Americans who are both insured and covered by the ACA will continue to obtain cost-free life saving cancer screenings and clinical tests, as well as HIV medications and other life saving medications part of its preventative healthcare program.
The case has been put forward by several Christian-owned companies who question the constitutional authority that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which oversees and decides which services fall under the ACA’s mandate, has when requiring businesses to cover parts of preventative healthcare services in employer-sponsored insurance. The Supreme Court will deliberate and make a ruling on this matter by early June or July, with the case marking another instance where millions of Americans’ healthcare coverage is being placed on life support.
However, a stunning, yet notable twist in this episode of people’s healthcare coverage being put on the chopping block, President Trump and his administration are now defending the ACA in the Supreme Court. This marks a complete reversal from 2018, when in his first term President Trump and congressional Republicans sought to repeal Obamacare. Their failure was attributed to the late Arizona Senator John McCain’s dissenting thumbs-down vote. Now, the Department of Justice under the Trump administration has appointed Jonathan Mitchell, the former Solicitor General of Texas and the same lawyer who successfully argued against Colorado’s effort to ban Trump from the 2024 ballot, to represent the federal government in this case.
To provide further context, the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. At the time of its passage, millions of Americans had little to no health insurance coverage, as many faced barriers because of pre-existing conditions. As a result, they were forced to pay for exorbitantly expensive health insurance costs out of pocket. The ACA was monumental because it marked a significant overhaul of the entire U.S. healthcare system, with expansions to Medicaid coverage, regulation of private insurance, and establishment of preventive healthcare measures being just some of the protections it set in place for Americans.
Yet despite its passage into law, the ACA faced severe pushback from congressional Republicans who vowed in multiple campaigns to repeal and replace it altogether. Critics of the program argue that it did little to lower the costs of health insurance across the country, while the cost and massive amounts of subsidies and spending on the program have added 4.8 trillion dollars to the national debt. In addition to this, critics point to the fact that private health insurance premiums have increased dramatically—despite the implementation of the act and promise of the Obama administration to reduce this number—as justification for repealing the Act. But, as of 2025, Obamacare insures more than 24 million Americans across the country, and boasts a 64% approval rating—even in spite of its numerous critics.
The Trump Administration’s full reversal on its policy toward Obamacare is an interesting development. From championing its full repeal in 2018 to now defending a key part of its program in the Supreme Court, many pundits posit that this reversal is largely due to the influence of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A prominent member of the Kennedy family and political dynasty, RFK’s tenure as the current Secretary of the HHS oversaw mass layoffs in the department, as well as the promotion of racial pseudoscience and anti-vaccine rhetoric. To clarify further, the future ruling on Kennedy v. Braidwood has the potential to decide the role of the HHS secretary regarding the management of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Pundits speculate that Kennedy’s $20 billion dollar blueprint could easily be implemented, thus resulting in massive consequences to U.S. medical research and treatment.
Fortunately, despite the fear of a massive drain on the United States’ healthcare sector, the Supreme Court seems likely to reject this case. While Justices Alito and Thomas have expressed sympathy for the challenger’s arguments, according to inside sources, at least two of President Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court—Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett—have expressed their own reservations alongside Justices Kagan, Jackson, and Sotomayor.
Nevertheless, this case is just one of many anticipated legal battles that can determine the future of the Affordable Care Act for years to come, and it is important to continue paying attention.
***
This article was edited by Michael Adcock.
Thomas Tisdale 
David Tomanelli 
Sinhawe Haji