When the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, Republicans vowed to kill it and substitute something better.

They did neither. And after 10 years of flailing against what they derisively called Obamacare, it appears they will fail once more, hopefully for good.

The latest challenge to the ACA, brought by Republicans and the Trump administration, was heard in oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this week. The plaintiffs argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA was both unconstitutional and inseparable from the law as a whole — and therefore, the ACA in its entirety had to fall.

But two conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court, Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh, took issue with this claim.

“It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the act in place — the provisions regarding pre-existing conditions and the rest,” Kavanaugh said.

Should the ACA survive once again — this is its third time before the high court — an estimated 21 million people who would otherwise lose their health coverage will breathe a collective sigh of relief.

That includes even Hawaii, where most people are covered through their employers, thanks to the visionary Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act. Thousands of island residents have signed up for individual ACA health insurance plans. And the law’s expansion of Medicaid coverage gave more low-income people access to health care. In Hawaii, Medicaid serves more than 386,000 residents.

If there was ever a bad time to kill the ACA, it is now. A resurgent coronavirus is ravaging the health care landscape. Hospitals are filling up once again. The disease has hit disproportionately the poor and working class, who have low-wage but essential front-line jobs.

The ACA also has broad public support. It guarantees coverage for pre-existing conditions, which can include COVID-19. It also provides for emergency care, prescription drugs and maternity care, and allows parents to keep their children on their health plan until they turn 26.

This may be why Congress has chosen not to repeal it, even during the two years when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress.

Perhaps with a new president and an alarming public health catastrophe, Congress will strengthen and expand the ACA, and stop the lawsuits and empty promises. Because for all its perceived faults, Obamacare — or whatever you want to call it — surely is better than nothing.