Obamacare Set for a 5-4 Supreme Court Decision

The new healthcare reform law has now been overturned by two judges appointed by Republican presidents and upheld by two judges appointed by Democratic presidents. So most experts agree the Supreme Court will ultimately decide the law’s fate, Politico reports.

And no one should feel too confident which way the decision will go. “A year ago, it was a long shot,” Randy Barnett, a law professor at Georgetown University, tells the news service, speaking of the law’s chances of winding up before the Supreme Court. “Now, it’s seen as a 5-to-4 case. And nobody’s exactly sure which way the 5-to-4 will come down.”

The constitutionality of the requirement for everyone to buy health insurance represents a complicated issue that may not be decided along predictable ideological lines.

But the court’s decision could be one of the most important in its history. “This case could define federalism for the next 100 years,” Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, tells Politico.

“If the Obama administration prevails in its view, it’s hard to see what’s left of federalism.”