Health law court case winner could be political loser

May 27, 2015 at 1:13 p.m. | Updated May 27, 2015 at 1:30 p.m.

by Associated Press

FILE - in this March 25, 2015 file photo, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The party that wins the impending Supreme Court decision on President Barack Obama’s health care law could be the political loser. If the Republican-backed challenge to the law’s subsidies for lower-earning Americans prevails, they’d have achieved a top goal of severely damaging “Obamacare.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - in this March 25, 2015 file photo, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The party that wins the impending Supreme Court decision on President Barack Obama’s health care law could be the political loser. If the Republican-backed challenge to the law’s subsidies for lower-earning Americans prevails, they’d have achieved a top goal of severely damaging “Obamacare.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The party that wins the impending Supreme Court decision on President Barack Obama's health care law could be the political loser.

If the Republican-backed challenge to the law's subsidies for lower-earning Americans prevails, they'd have achieved a top goal of severely damaging "Obamacare."

But GOP lawmakers would be pressured to help the millions of Americans who could suddenly find government-mandated medical coverage unaffordable. And they'd face blame from many voters if they failed to provide assistance.

Should the Obama administration win, relieved Democrats would crow that Obama's foremost domestic achievement had stood unscathed.

But some say they'd also have lost a potentially powerful cudgel for the 2016 campaigns: Being able to accuse Republicans of ending the assistance and disrupting health coverage for many.

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