Liberal justices, however, argued that people who don't pay into the health system by purchasing insurance make care more expensive for everyone. "It is not your free choice" to stay out of the market for life, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said during arguments.

Roberts argued then that "all bets are off" when it comes to federal government authority if Congress was found to have the authority to regulate health care in the name of commerce. He maintained that reasoning in his ruling out Thursday, even while he saved the law itself on other grounds.