Justices unlikely to have last word on health care

Think the Supreme Court will finally settle America's contentious debate over health care? Think again.

The court announced Monday it will take up the constitutional challenge to President Barack Obama's landmark health care law, with a decision expected next year in the heat of the presidential election.

But even if the court upholds the law, Republican congressional leaders say they'll keep trying to repeal it.

White House officials are dug in, too.

Outwardly, they're confident Obama's plan to cover the uninsured will be vindicated.

But if the court strikes down the law's linchpin — an unpopular mandate requiring most Americans to carry health insurance — the administration would take whatever's left and try to put that in place.

Sooner or later, the whole mess could wind back up in Congress.

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