Statements from candidates who hope to succeed President Barack Obama make clear that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the president's health care law will not end the debate nor efforts to replace it.
The candidates' comments broke predictably along party lines, with Democrats praising the 6-3 decision and Republicans criticizing it.
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who championed health care changes unsuccessfully as first lady, celebrated Thursday's ruling, sending an exuberant tweet: "Yes! SCOTUS affirms what we know is true in our hearts & under the law: Health insurance should be affordable & available to all. -H"
In a statement issued later by her campaign, Clinton said it's now time to move on.
"The Affordable Care Act isn't perfect, but the evidence is clear: it's working," she said.
Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., predicted that Clinton "will make Obamacare her own" in the 2016 campaign and suggested that his party do the opposite.
"If you want to repeal and replace Obamacare with something better for your family -- bipartisan -- vote Republican," he said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is among 13 announced Republican candidates for the presidency, said that as president, he "would make fixing our broken health care system one of my top priorities. I will work with Congress to repeal and replace this flawed law with conservative reforms that empower consumers with more choices and control over their health care decisions."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, praised the court's decision in an email, saying the majority of justices "recognized the common-sense reading of the Affordable Care Act that Congress intended to help all eligible Americans obtain health insurance whether they get it through state or national exchanges. Access to affordable health care should not depend on where you live."
But the self-described socialist went further, adding: "What the United States should do is join every other major nation and recognize that health care is a right of citizenship. A Medicare-for-all, single-payer system would provide better care at less cost for more Americans."
Presidential candidate Martin O'Malley, former Democratic governor of Maryland, also called for more improvement in health care but with a focus on reducing costs for taxpayers.
Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., who has yet to announce his presidential intentions despite making frequent trips to early-voting states, condemned the high court's ruling in a tweet: "This decision turns common language on its head. Now leaders must turn our attention to making the case that ObamaCare must be replaced."
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, also blasted the court's ruling.
"We were promised improved access and higher-quality care, but the complexity of ObamaCare is preventing the very competition that would allow more and better options for patients," she said.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, described the court's decision as "an out-of-control act of judicial tyranny."
"The courts have no constitutional authority to rescue Congress from creating bad law. The solution is for Congress to admit they screwed up, repeal the 'nightmare of Obamacare,' and let states road-test real health care reforms," he said in a statement.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who launched his presidential campaign for the Republican nomination Wednesday, promised to continue the fight against the health care law.
"Today, the Supreme Court had its say; soon, the American people will have theirs," he said in a statement.
Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said "Obamacare must go."
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in Iowa this week although he has not declared his presidential intentions, had opted for a federal exchange while also accepting an expansion of Medicaid.
Nonetheless, he feels that the court's decision is "disappointing," and thinks the Affordable Care Act should be replaced with a program that allows states to pursue "market-based" innovations instead of relying on "big government programs imposed by Washington," spokesman Rob Nichols said.
Gov. Scott Walker, a Wisconsin Republican who has begun fundraising for a still-unofficial presidential campaign, called upon his rivals in Congress to act: "Today's Supreme Court ruling upholding the administration's implementation of ObamaCare means Republicans in the House and Senate must redouble their efforts to repeal and replace this destructive and costly law."
Presidential candidate Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania senator, said he "will be committed to repealing the monstrosity of Obamacare and replacing it with a patient-centered program that puts people first, not the government."
Candidate and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson urged Republicans not to waste time "mourning today's ruling."
"While I resent what the court has done, it only causes me to work even harder to make sure the next president will repeal and replace Obamacare with sensible consumer-empowering solutions that remove the government from the patient/doctor relationship."
Republican candidate and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, an eye doctor, blasted the ruling.
"Justice Scalia got it right! 'Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is 'established by the State,'" Paul tweeted.
Information for this article was contributed by Kathleen Hunter, Jennifer Epstein, David Weigel, Duane Stanford, Robert Gifford, John McCormick, Margaret Newkirk and Mark Niquette of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 06/26/2015