Mount Vernon Area Tea Party, Washington
WA attorney general will sue over health care bill
By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press Writer
OLYMPIA (AP) — Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna said Monday that he’s joining a multistate challenge to the constitutionality of a health care overhaul bill passed by Congress.
McKenna, a Republican, said he believes the measure passed Sunday night by the House “unconstitutionally imposes new requirements on our state and on its citizens.”
The measure would extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, and for the first time, most would be required to purchase insurance and face penalties if they refused.
The House voted 219-212 to approve the overhaul, and Obama could sign the bill as early as Tuesday.
McKenna said that the requirement for people to buy health insurance was an “unprecedented federal mandate” that violates the commerce clause and the 10th amendment of the U.S. Constitution that deals with state sovereignty.
He also argued that the measure puts an extra burden on Washington state’s budget by requiring the state to expand its Medicaid eligibility standards.
Other states planning to challenge the bill are Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, the North and South Dakotas, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.
A companion package making a series of changes sought by U.S. House Democrats to the main overhaul bill, which already had passed the Senate, was also approved Sunday night by the House. That bill now goes go the Senate, where debate is expected to begin as early as Tuesday. Attorney General Website: http://www.atg.wa.gov/page.aspx?id=25410· Short video of interview with Rob McKenna
· Q & A about lawsuit
· Link to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
· Copy of the lawsuit
We will Remember come November: Inslee WA-1, Larsen WA-2, Baird WA-3 Dicks WA-6, McDermott WA-7, Smith WA-9 all voted YES on the National Health Control Bill