Health care law ruling expected Thursday by Supreme Court

Associated Press photo by Alex Brandon

The U.S. Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the constitutionality of the federal health-care reform law Thursday. 

As for the outcomes, Politico's Jennifer Haberkorn sees four possible scenarios: 

• Strike down the individual mandate as well as insurance reforms

• Strike down the mandate but keep insurance reforms intact

• Strike down the majority of the law

• Let the law stand in its entirety

At the heart of the debate is whether the government can force people to buy health insurance, which is often referred to as the individual mandate. If the mandate is axed but insurance reforms stay intact, insurance companies "could start a mini revolt over having to cover expensive patients without the mandate," Haberkorn writes.

The Supreme Court did issue two key rulings today, "throwing out much of Arizona's new immigration law and deciding that juveniles to life in prison without possibility of parole qualified as a 'cruel and unusual' punishment," The Associated Press reports. (Read more)