Poll: Supreme Court insiders expect court to uphold healthcare law

Former Supreme Court clerks and lawyers who have argued before the court mostly expect the justices to uphold President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new poll.

The poll surveyed nearly 400 former clerks and roughly 240 attorneys who have practiced before the high court. Sixty-five percent said they expect the justices to uphold the individual mandate in Obama's signature healthcare law.

The Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments in the healthcare case Monday.

Nearly three-fourths of the attorneys polled said the court will likely reach a decision now, rather than waiting until after the mandate takes effect in 2014.

And if the court does strike down the mandate, most of those surveyed said, it wouldn't throw out the entire healthcare law. Thirty-eight percent said the court would invalidate the mandate along with a few other provisions, and 36 percent said they believe the court would strike the mandate alone. Only 27 percent expect the justices to strike down the entire law.

The poll was conducted by Purple Strategies on behalf of the American Action Forum and the Blue Dog Research Forum.

The clerks and attorneys also don't expect the court to agree with a challenge to the law's Medicaid expansion — 81 percent said they expect the court to uphold the Medicaid expansion.

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