Biden Defends Affordable Care Act as Supreme Court Hears Arguments

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday rejected a White House lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Health Care Act that is being heard by the Supreme Court.

“Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s at stake: The consequences of the Trump administration’s argument are not academic or an abstraction. For many Americans, they are a matter of life and death, in a literal sense,” Biden said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. “This isn’t hyperbole. It’s real—as real as it gets,” he added.

The health care law, commonly known as Obamacare, is being heard in the Supreme Court this week. There is little Biden can do because the case was brought by a coalition of GOP attorneys general.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Biden’s vice-presidential choice, said on Tuesday that they campaigned on protecting the landmark health care law.

“I know we all know that we just had an election in America—an election where health care was very much on the ballot. Our country had a clear choice in this election,” Harris said. “Each and every vote for Joe Biden was a statement that health care in America should be a right and not a privilege. Each and every vote for Joe Biden was a vote to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act, not to tear it away in the midst of a global pandemic.”

The White House, Senate, and House attempted to repeal Obamacare during the president’s first two years in office but ultimately failed. Trump and Republicans enacted a tax law that removed the law’s individual mandate for not having insurance.

Biden has said that he would bring back the individual mandate penalty for not being covered under health insurance.

Biden declared victory in the election after several news outlets declared him the winner on Nov. 7. Trump, meanwhile, has not conceded and has promised to contest the election. The Epoch Times will not declare a winner until legal challenges are resolved and the election is certified.

The General Services Administration (GSA) told Epoch Times on Monday that a final assessment of the situation has not been made to approve a transfer of power.

“An ascertainment has not yet been made. GSA and its administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law,” a spokesperson with the GSA said. The agency said that GSA administrator Emily Murphy will only initiate the transition when a “clear winner is clear, based on the process laid out in the Constitution.”

“The administrator’s ascertainment is done for the purposes of making services provided by the [Presidential Transition Act] available,” the spokesperson said. “Until an ascertainment is made, the statute allows for the Biden Transition Team to continue to receive the pre-elect services from the government (e.g., limited office space, computers, background investigations for security clearances). GSA has met all statutory requirements under the PTA for this election cycle and will continue to do so.”