Local Family Grateful SCOTUS Backs Obamacare
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – One South Florida family is breathing a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court's decision to back Obamacare.
"I'm so grateful that I can breathe, and I can sleep tonight. I'm so excited," smiled Carole Driscoll in a yoga studio in Davie, where she works.
Driscoll's piece of mind has come in the form of a Supreme Court decision.
The high court ruled that Americans like Carole and her husband Mike Driscoll, who is disabled, can legally receive federal money for health insurance, even though Florida did not create its own healthcare exchange.
Mike Driscoll, who is an attorney, can't work right now and they are raising five kids on her income as a yoga instructor.
The fear of losing the $841 a month, which they rely on to cover insurance costs, took a toll on her.
"We would have had no healthcare, we'd have no doctors, we'd have no surgery," she told CBS4's Natalia Zea. "I didn't even have a Plan B."
But after a 6-3 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion:
"Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them."
Many of his fellow conservatives are upset by the ruling.
"I disagree with their decision. I believe Obamacare is bad for Americans. Bad for the country," said Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.
Fellow candidate, Jeb Bush sent an email to supporters using the decision as a springboard to ask for "emergency" campaign donations for his run for the presidency writing in part:
"We need a president who will repeal and replace Obamacare with a conservative solution."
This is the second time the court has kept the president's health law alive, and the president wasted no time applauding the ruling.
"As the dust has settled there can be no doubt this law is working. It has changed and in some cases saved American lives. It set this country on a smarter stronger course," said President Barack Obama.
Carole Driscoll is grateful for the help.
"Finally I feel like we got a break and we're going to be able to come back and regroup and move on, and get everybody healthy and happy."
