Digital Journalist

The U.S. Supreme Court sided today with the Obama administration over its major healthcare overhaul, upholding federal subsidies across the country.

In a 6-3 ruling, the nation’s highest court ruled that critics’ reading of Obamacare might make sense in isolation, but not when viewed in a larger context and in light of the intention of the law.

"After multiple challenges to this law before the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act is here to stay," President Obama said.

Flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, Obama added that had the Supreme Court struck down the use of subsidies on the federal exchange, “America would have gone backwards. That’s not what we do."

It’s the second time the Supreme Court -- and its conservative chief justice, John Roberts -- has backed controversial portions of Obamacare. The first ruling was in 2012.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote an angry dissent, saying the Supreme Court’s pair of decisions over Obamacare will “surely be remembered through the years” as evidence the court does “whatever [it] takes to uphold and assist its favorites.”

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, called the ruling “incredibly disappointing.”

“Obamacare has never been accepted by the American people,” Johnson said. “The harm that the law inflicts shows that the people were right. Congress must move America past this unaffordable, destructive law.”

The decision has a major impact on the millions of Americans who are receiving financial assistance from the federal government to buy health insurance.

Obamacare -- technically titled The Affordable Care Act -- gave states the option to build their own healthcare marketplaces or simply use one operated by the federal government.

ABCNews

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-upholds-obama-health-care-subsidies/story?id=31931412