The Supreme Court has determined that Congress must pay insurers $12 billion it owes them according to an Obamacare provision meant to encourage insurers to offer coverage to uninsured Americans.

The 8-1 ruling found that, despite Congress's efforts to the contrary, it must fulfill its obligations laid out under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare. This decision reverses a lower court ruling which argued that Congress had suspended the government's obligations to make ACA payments to insurers.

The ACA has long been in Republican crosshairs, and the efforts made not to pay this debt are a part of that overall intent. However, while this ruling does represent a loss to the Republicans, it was not intended to challenge the law itself. During the Supreme Court's next term in October, the court is scheduled to hear a case brought by 20 Democratic-led states meant to preserve Obamacare against challenges by Republican-led states backed by President Donald Trump.

The merit of the ACA was not at issue in this case. Rather, the court determined that not fulfilling the requirements laid out in the ACA would be the equivalent of a "bait-and-switch" as insurers called it after the lower court ruling.

"These holdings reflect a principle as old as the nation itself: The government should honor its obligations," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the ruling.

Republicans have repeatedly called the fund an insurer "bailout", but that isn't exactly correct. The $12 billion debt comes from a risk corridor program set up to repay insurers for losses they made under the new program between 2014 and 2016. The payout was meant to be balanced by profits paid into the fund by insurers, but insurers lost $2.5 billion more than they made from user fees in 2014 alone, according to Salon. The risk corridor program was intended to give a temporary financial incentive to insurers to stabilize their premiums and participate in the insurance exchanges.

Republicans have added a series of measures to prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for the purpose of encouraging insurers to cover uninsured Americans by restricting the use of taxpayer money for the fund. These efforts are part of a years-long push by Republicans to have the ACA repealed. The Hill reports that "according to experts, the decision [not to use taxpayer money] destabilized the marketplace for years as insurers fled the exchanges or jacked up premiums."

Despite the failure of the fund and the unpopularity of the ACA amongst Conservatives, the Supreme Court determined that Congress must fulfill the obligations laid out in the law.

"We conclude that [the ACA] established a money-mandating obligation, that Congress did not repeal this obligation, and that petitioners may sue the Government for damages in the Court of Federal Claims," Sotomayor wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito was the only dissenting opinion. He also referred to the fund as a "massive bailout" for insurers.

"Under the Court's decision, billions of taxpayer dollars will be turned over to insurance companies that bet unsuccessfully on the success of the program in question. This money will have to be paid even though Congress has pointedly declined to appropriate money for that purpose," Alito wrote.