CHARLOTTE -- The Affordable Care Act could take a big blow this year. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week on part of the Affordable Care Act.

The court could strike down federal subsidies for insurance purchased through the federal exchange.

Insurance navigator Juliann Taylor says that could force hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians off of their insurance.

"Otherwise, these people would never have been able to afford their health insurance. So receiving those subsidies from the government has made it affordable where otherwise it wouldn't have been," said Julieanne Taylor, health insurance navigator, Legal Services of Southern Piedmont.

The liberal Urban Institute estimates insurance costs would skyrocket to four times the federal poverty level, possibly causing people to drop coverage.

But the law itself is unaffordable in the eyes of Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates more than $1 trillion will go to ACA related subsidies by 2025.

The conservative Heritage Group says anyone dropping coverage is just a byproduct of an already flawed law. Republicans are trying to replace the Affordable Care Act.

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr's Patient CARE Act is among the options. He says it would address rising costs and expand access to affordable care.