Two Republican Judges Gut Obamacare, Threatening Health Care For Millions....5 Million Could Lose Insurance Support... Affects More Than Half Of Country... 'Punishing Millions Because Of A Typo'... White House To Seek Revote... UPDATE: Separate Court UPHOLDS Obamacare On Same Challenge...

WASHINGTON -- Two Republican judges on the D.C. Circuit Court have ruled that the equivalent of a typo is enough to strip health care subsidies from up to five million people, dealing what would be a death blow to the Affordable Care Act if the decision is allowed to stand. The one Democrat on the panel dissented.

The three-judge panel ruled in Halbig v. Burwell that people in the 36 states that use the federal health insurance exchange are ineligible for subsidized insurance. The decision would also affect those who purchased insurance through the exchange but don't receive subsidies, as reneging on the payments would lead to a rapid increase in insurance rates for everyone.

The White House said Tuesday the decision will be appealed to the entire D.C. circuit court -- what's known as an en banc review -- where Democrats hold a majority that is nearly certain to overturn the GOP judges' aggressive move. The next step could be the Supreme Court, which already upheld the Affordable Care Act in a separate case two years ago.

The U.S. courts have never been entirely above the political system, but under Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, whose court routinely strikes down longstanding precedent along 5-4, strictly party-line votes, they are becoming little more than another legislative branch -- one that holds itself above the branch that was vested with lawmaking powers by the Constitution.

The majority opinion was not without a comedic interlude. "We reach this conclusion, frankly, with reluctance," Judge Thomas Griffith said of the opportunity to achieve a longtime GOP goal.

The two judges seized on text within the law that said subsidies would be provided to people who purchased insurance on exchanges established by the states. But 36 states declined to set up their own exchanges, and chose to rely on the federal government's exchange instead. Because the law doesn't specifically say that people who bought insurance on the federal exchange also get subsidies, the law's opponents argued that therefore such subsidies are illegal. more