"No longer will Americans be a heart attack or a car crash away from bankruptcy"
- Harry M. Reid, Senate Majority Leader
A sharply divided Supreme Court upheld President Obama's health-care law Thursday requiring that most Americans get insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty, a ruling that gave the White House big win ahead of Obama's re-election bid in November.
"The Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court's majority.
"No longer will Americans be a heart attack or a car crash away from bankruptcy," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid said in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday after the ruling.
"No longer will Americans live in fear of losing their health insurance because they lose their job."
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