The Supreme Court has ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and 6.4 million Americans across the country will be allowed to keep their health insurance coverage.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that nationwide subsidies called for in the Affordable Care Act are legal. This empowers the ACA to authorize federal tax credits to eligible Americans living in the 34 states that did not set up their own exchanges. The SCOTUS ruling has also put an end to the ongoing political showdown over President Obama's signature healthcare overhaul law.

During the case, the government argued that federal subsidies are the lynchpin of the law, and without them the law would be gutted.

Challengers to the law, on the other hand, argued that language in the legislation indicates that the federal government cannot dole out subsidies to individuals living in states without their own healthcare exchanges.

However, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts sided with Anthony Kennedy and the court's liberal justices: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, handing the Obama administration a major victory.

"Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them," wrote Justice Roberts in the court's majority opinion statement, according to CNN. "If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter."

Roberts also cited the law's "more than a few examples of inartful drafting," but added, "the context and structure of the Act compel us to depart from what would otherwise be the most natural reading of the pertinent statutory phrase" in the opinion, according to NPR.

In his dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said "we should start calling this law SCOTUScare," since the Court has acted to save the law twice.

Following the decision, Republicans were quick to denounce the ruling.

"I disagree with the Court's ruling and believe they have once again erred in trying to correct the mistakes made by President Obama and Congress in forcing Obamacare on the American people," said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. "I remain committed to repealing this bad law and replacing it with my consumer-centered plan that puts patients and families back in control of their health care decisions."

However, liberal groups applauded the ruling.

"Today's decision is a victory for the health and safety of our country. It means that millions of Americans, including Latinos, will continue receiving critical financial help to purchase a quality, affordable plan through the insurance marketplace, said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, in a statement. "We know that the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act is something our community needs and supports," she added.

Likewise, the President of Enroll America, Anne Filipic, issued a statement regarding the Supreme Court decision on King v. Burwell, saying: "Although we've always felt confident about the outcome of this case, it's a relief to finally be able to move past these divisive arguments so we can focus on getting more Americans covered in the next enrollment period, and supporting the newly insured as they use and renew their coverage."