Shares of health insurers traded mostly lower Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 2010 health care overhaul law, although Medicaid coverage providers' stock soared on the news that the ruling preserves a planned expansion of the government program.

In a highly anticipated decision, the court ruled by a 5-4 majority that the health care law is constitutional. It upheld key provisions of the law, including a mandate for most people to have health insurance starting in 2014 or pay a penalty.

The overhaul will expand coverage to millions of uninsured people in two years by expanding Medicaid and providing tax credits to help middle-income people who don't get insurance through their jobs to buy it on their own. The law's penalty also is expected to prod people to buy coverage.

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