The Supreme Court is hours away from delivering its most hotly anticipated of the session, as the White House, lawmakers, business leaders and the nation wait to see if the Affordable Care Act will be upheld, struck down or some middle option.

For now, the decision remains anyone's guess, but it is sure to have sweeping consequences.

During an election year and a period of shaky economic recovery, what the high court decrees will ripple through the political world and, more importantly, the sector that counts for one-sixth of the American economy.

Will Americans be guaranteed coverage regardless of medical condition? Will they be forced to buy insurance? Will businesses be able to hire without worrying whether they can afford the accompanying health care costs?

The White House, peppered with questions at Wednesday's briefing, was reticent to entertain the implications of the looming decision and what it could mean for President Obama's signature domestic policy achievement and what it could mean for the millions of Americans it affects.

"We await the Supreme Court decision, as does everyone," Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "We will be ready for the decision when it comes down."

Carney said only that the Obama administration is "confident" the law is constitutional, and he defended what the provisions have done for health care in America to date. He said, for instance, that 3.1 million more young adults have coverage today because of a provision allowing them to stay on their parents' plans until age 26.

Republicans, though, say the myriad consumer protections come with a big cost, and they are vowing to keep up the fight to repeal the law should the court uphold all or part of it.

"If the court does not strike down the entire law, the House will move to repeal what's left of it," House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday, claiming the law is driving up the cost of health care and making it tougher for small businesses to hire workers.

While Republicans' chief argument against the law is that it stifles economic growth with burdensome regulations, the chief legal argument in court is that the individual mandate requiring most Americans to get health insurance is unconstitutional.

There are several scenarios for court action on Thursday.

The Supreme Court could uphold the entire law or could strike down the entire law. In between those two extremes, the court could also rule that the individual mandate is unconstitutional -- while leaving the rest of the Affordable Care Act intact. A slight variation on that outcome would be for the court to strike down the mandate and two related provisions. Aside from the mandate, the law's expansion of Medicaid is at issue in Thursday's ruling, as well.

The high court could also surprise everybody and decide not to issue a ruling -- accepting the argument that because nobody has yet paid a penalty for failing to purchase health insurance, the case is not yet ripe for the courts to decide.

What comes next for the law is anybody's guess.

Republicans have vowed to repeal whatever's left, and Democrats have vowed to protect what they can.

"We're prepared to build on the landmark health reform to make sure, more and more, we have affordable quality health care for all Americans," Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., told Fox News.

But if the mandate is struck down, it throws the entire economic formula for implementing the policy out of balance. Health insurance companies are expected to take on a significant amount of additional cost due to provisions that guarantee coverage and implement other consumer protections -- in exchange, the mandate ensured those companies would get millions more customers. Without the mandate, that trade-off disappears.

Democrats have acknowledged that eliminating the mandate would cause problems for implementing the rest of the regulations.

Meanwhile, the decision could have a significant impact on the 2012 presidential race. If the law stands, Obama wins some measure of vindication -- but can also be assured that Romney will continue to run on repealing the policy. If the law falls, Obama faces a major rebuke, but can take solace in the fact that Romney can no longer run on his repeal pledge.

Romney, though, signaled Tuesday he'll be hammering the president over the law no matter how the court rules.

If the law is overturned, Romney said, "then the first three-and-a-half years of this president's term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people."

"If it is deemed to stand," Romney continued, "then I'll tell you one thing. Then we'll have to have a president, and I'm that one, that's going to get rid of ObamaCare."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/27/decision-day-supreme-court-poised-to-shape-economy-election-with-obamacare/#ixzz1z4j26UQC

I hope the Supreme Coutrt does the right thing and strike down this piece of crap they call a bill that they are trying to force down our throats.

I just hope the activists on the court who are in Obama's pocket and who owe him like Sotomayor and Kagan do their job and not do King Obama's bidding and be his yes men in the Supreme Court.

They can also punt the decision for now. And they probably will....

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2012/06/exag-john-roberts-might-punt-on-supreme-court-health-127481.html

Former Attorney General and former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday Chief Justice John Roberts may try to avoid the constitutional issues in the fight over President Barack Obama's health care law and vote to allow the individual mandate in the law to take effect before the courts issue a definitive ruling on it.

Associated Press...From today's newspaper....


Health Care Countdown: Who Wins, Loses, Pays?




http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Health-care-countdown-Who-wins-loses-pays-3665452.php

Any word on what Plan B is?

Very sad day for America.
We will now be forced to endure the same, low quality health care Europe and Canada has forced on them.

Healthcare Act upheld by SCOTUS.

Not a damn bit surprised, what the elite wants, the elite gets, always.

Now I think we should pass a law where everybody has to have strawberries. Don't worry if you're allergic, you have health care now!

and Americans will have to pay for it.

Ruled unconstitutional under the commerce clause.
Upheld as a tax.
Tell me how taxing the poor and middle class will help them?

Thrilled with the 5/4 decision..nice step forward.

Europe and Canada do not have the same plan

they have SOCIALIZED care,, which is a different animal

we still have PRIVATE insurers of our choice,,,,the care will not be run by the government as in Britian,,,

heres the deal,, as a tax, its actually contributing to the budget that pays for the costs of healthcare (which is a sizable part of the US budget) for those who dont CARRY it privately,,,

the poverty level citizens will still have medicare/medicaid and therefore not be mandated to pay a tax

this only changes the tax rates already in existing by adding another 1percent for those not carrying any medical coverage although they may someday need medical care that has to be paid for somehow...

Obama lied then when he said the mandate wasn't a tax. The whole bill is rediculous! HeII a year and half after it passed we still don't know all whats in it.

here ya go

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/full/

this ruling will now put President Kardashian in a box...he'll have to defend a 500 billion dollar tax increase on the American people...and...he will have to explain why he insisted that it wasn't a tax but a fee...now that the Supreme Court...has just ruled that it is indeed a tax...

Taxing the poor? Not so sure the poor will have to pay more in taxes. This will hit the Middle Class the hardest like always.

I absolutely hate this "law".

There was a Drug Import Bill that was stuck down months before the Healthcare Bill. That bill would have made it legal for U.S. citizens to shop for your medicine in other countries. One drug here can be priced 300% higher (or worse)than somewhere else. That would have been a great, common sense move but it didn't get passed. And why wasn't this included in the HC Reform Bill.

Another point to ponder:
This law is suppose to mean that people with pre-existing conditions will not get turned away from insurance coverage. Let's say a certain company looks at a new, possible customer with a pre-existing condition. That patient's care will cost them easily $300,000.00 for the coming year. BUT IF they deny this person and not allow them to be a customer/member, they may get found out eventually and slapped with a fine. For the sake of this argument, I will make the fine $10,000.00.

What would the company rather do? I think they will accept the risk of an eventual fine then accept someone with pre-existing conditions as a new policy holder.

Who will be caught? Since they will probably force us to show proof of medical insurance in our income tax filings, those people who don't have medical insurance will we be punished with a fine. A fine that automatically gets taken out of one's income tax return.

I also heard that Obama said this healthcare would costs no more than a trillion. It is now estimated to cost SEVENTEEN trillion over that first trillion.

The above are just a few thoughts. There are very disturbing aspects of this law like what form of biometric ID may be forced upon us and that real time electronic billing will be attached to our bank accounts?

I will NOT be a part of biometric ID !!

This healthcare law needs to go. Get rid of Obama. He should get impeached!

nope, not really

no more than the court has to explain why it calls it a tax,, its a difference in how the bill was perceived,, not a crime nor unusual

the defense of the increase is the 846 billion (and rising) in dollars that healthcare is costing the country , this helps to cover a good portion of it,,

WHAT THEY SAID...


The president's health care law is hurting our economy by driving up health costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire. Today's ruling underscores the urgency of repealing this harmful law in its entirety. What Americans want is a common-sense, step-by-step approach to health care reform that will protect Americans' access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost. Republicans stand ready to work with a president who will listen to the people and will not repeat the mistakes that gave our country ObamaCare." — Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio.

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"This decision is a victory for the American people. With this ruling, Americans will benefit from critical patient protections, lower costs for the middle class, more coverage for families, and greater accountability for the insurance industry." — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

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"It's a great moment to just think about what this will mean for the millions and millions of Americans who have already benefited from the Affordable Care Act and so many more who will continue to do so. There will be a lot of work to do to get it implemented and understand what the opinion says, but obviously, I was quite excited to hear the results." — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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"What's important to remember is that what the court rules on is whether something is constitutional or not, not whether it's a good idea. And while the court has said that the law is constitutional, it remains a bad idea for our economy, and I hope that in the fall we will have a majority here that will not just repeal this law, but replace it with real solutions that will insure more people and cost a lot less money." — Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida.