Certified nurse practitioner Myra Tilson conducts a check-up on a patient at a Community Clinic Inc. health center in Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, the same day health insurance exchanges opened their doors across the nation. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a new challenge to President Barack Obamas health care law.

The justices said they will decide whether the law authorizes subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums.

A federal appeals court upheld Internal Revenue Service regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states. Opponents argue that most of the subsidies are illegal.

The long-running political and legal campaign to overturn or limit the 2010 health overhaul will be making its second appearance at the Supreme Court.

The justices upheld the heart of the law in a 5-4 decision in 2012 in which Chief Justice John Roberts provided the decisive vote.

In the appeal accepted Friday, opponents of the subsidies argued that the court should resolve the issue now because it involves billions of dollars in public money.

The court rarely steps into a case when there is no disagreement among federal appellate courts, unless a law or regulation has been ruled invalid.

But at least four justices, needed to grant review, apparently agreed with the challengers that the issue is important enough to decide now.

In July, a Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court upheld Internal Revenue Service regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states.

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Supreme Court to hear challenge to health care subsidies