The U.S. Supreme court on Wednesday agreed to consider a new challenge to the Affordable Care Act, known popularly as Obamacare.

President Obama's signature achievement already has made it through one major Supreme Court challenge only to be upheld by one vote. Now, it faces King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, a Virginia challenge to the tax subsidies are at the heart of the program.

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Opponents to the tax subsidies say they aren't available in states that decided not to offer health-care exchanges that are marketplaces for insurance coverage. Under the affordable care act, the federal government set up exchanges for people in the 34 states without exchanges.

One line in the massive law said only the states could offer those insurance marketplaces and that one line is the basis for the challenge. The entire affordable care act was based on the fact that people could get subsidies.

Four million people already have those subsidies from the federal marketplace. If the Obama administration loses the case, those people may lose those subsidies and their health-care coverage. 

The Internal Revenue Service issued a ruling saying the subsidies would be allowed regardless of whether they were state or federally arranged.

The challenge says that ruling was contrary to the law. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. told justices the I.R.S. was correct while the challenge was contrary to the law's text and structure. throwing out the subsidies would "render the act unrecognizable to the Congress that passed it," he said.

Only four justices need to agree to hear a case for it to be put in the Supreme Court. Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas all voted to strike down the affordable care act the last time it was considered. Chief Justice John Roberts provided the swing vote at the time that upheld the law.

Tagssupreme court, Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, scotus, Congress