The Affordable Care Act has been in peril many times before, including before the country's highest court, but with a newly seated conservative justice the decade-old law faces another key challenge Tuesday.
In the final hours leading up to the pivotal case before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the ACA and its individual mandate, advocates aired their final pitches on the importance of the law and why it should be saved.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has led the blue states' effort to uphold the act, noted in a press conference Monday the landmark health law's staying power from legal and political challenges.
"It has been upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional twice before, and we are optimistic that it will withstand this challenge as well. It has to — American lives depend on it," Becerra said.
Supporters of the law are likely relieved that former Vice President Joe Biden is now president-elect, as bolstering the ACA has been a key plank of his healthcare platform. However, If the law is struck down entirely and he faces a divided Congress — as is likely — it will be an uphill climb.
As justices hear the arguments, read Healthcare Dive's recent coverage of the ACA and its legal entanglements below.