States launch lawsuits against healthcare plan

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Republican attorneys general in at least 12 states warned on Monday that lawsuits will be filed to stop the federal government's healthcare reform bill from encroaching on states' sovereignty.

The lawsuits were widely expected with announcements coming from the states' top legal officials less than 24 hours after the House of Representatives gave final approval to a sweeping overhaul of healthcare.

State officials are concerned the burden of providing healthcare will fall to them without enough federal support.

Eleven of the attorneys general plan to band together in a collective lawsuit on behalf of Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

"Congress' attempt to force Michigan families to buy health insurance -- or else -- raises serious constitutional concerns," said Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. "We will fight to defend the individual rights and freedoms of Michigan citizens against this radical overreach by the federal government."

The state attorneys general say the reforms infringe on state powers under the Constitution's Bill of Rights.

Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, who plans to file a lawsuit in federal court in Richmond, Virginia, said Congress lacks authority under its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce to force people to buy insurance. The bill also conflicts with a state law that says Virginians cannot be required to buy insurance, he added.

"If a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person by definition is not engaging in commerce," Cuccinelli said in recorded comments. "If you are not engaging in commerce, how can the federal government regulate you?"

Forrest McDonald, a retired University of Alabama history professor who has written a book on states' rights, said Congress has no power to make someone buy something.

"You can stretch it all to hell and you're going to find a lot of power, but you can't find the power to make me buy a car or anything," he said.

But Mark Rosen, a Constitution scholar at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said the states do not really have a constitutional leg to stand on.

"Congress has clear authority to pass this type of legislation and under the supremacy clause that makes federal law supreme," he said.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, blasted the lawsuit, saying: "It's a waster of taxpayer money and it's nothing more than political grandstanding," he told reporters.

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you know, a lot of folk thought the SCOTUS would declare school vouchers unconstitutional, but it didn't. dems might be wrong on whether law can force folk to buy insurance too.