Pundits across the nation are hailing the past few days as “the best week ever” for President Obama. That’s in large measure because of landmark rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the federal Affordable Care Act and legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

While the president finally can exhale and smile because of these progressive rulings, the real victors are the people.

Millions of people in Virginia and across the nation have benefited from Obamacare — the president’s signature policy accomplishment — since its enactment five years ago. The high court’s affirmation of subsidies for low- and moderate-income Americans using the federal marketplace to purchase coverage under Obamacare now gives them security.

By expanding health care to the nation’s uninsured, Obamacare has lifted the lives, health and fortunes of people who have suffered through the high cost of no health insurance. Many had gone years without annual preventive checkups, delaying diagnosis and treatment of serious and treatable illnesses and diseases.

In Virginia alone, more than 285,000 people are eligible for tax credits toward the purchase of coverage through health insurance marketplaces.

Obamacare also is a win for people who are covered by insurance through their jobs. Many previously had been cut off from insurance because of pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure, or reached the maximum coverage amount insurers were willing to pay. Insurers no longer can cut people off for those reasons.

Even greater, Obamacare has eliminated out-of-pocket costs for everyone when it comes to preventive services, including certain cancer screenings, immunizations, contraception, smoking cessation and obesity screening. That provision affects nearly 4 million people in the Commonwealth.

These changes ultimately will improve the health of and access to care for Virginians. It also will reduce health care costs, including for hospitals in metro Richmond and beyond that previously were uncompensated for providing emergency room and other care for so many people lacking insurance.

We hope this ruling will put an end to Republican attempts to defund, discredit or upend Obamacare.

And we urge Republican lawmakers in the Virginia General Assembly to change their obstructionist, regressive ways and endorse the expansion of Medicaid in the Commonwealth to ultimately cover an estimated 300,000 more of our fellow citizens.

We call on Gov. Terry McAuliffe to renew his efforts to push Medicaid expansion when the legislature convenes in January, hopefully with a more enlightened contingent of senators and delegates.

In the meantime, we challenge readers to make Medicaid expansion a litmus test for candidates seeking your vote in the November elections for the state Senate and House of Delegates. Pledge not to support those who would block Medicaid expansion. Use your pen, your phone, your computer and your voice to hold candidates and elected officials accountable to accomplish the expansion.