Maine Attorney General William Schneider has asked to join a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law.
At Schneider’s request, the state of Florida is filing a court motion to allow Maine to join the federal lawsuit pending in that state. Maine is one of six states seeking to join the suit. Florida is the lead plaintiff, and 19 other states are already officially listed as plaintiffs. It is one of several federal suits challenging the Affordable Care Act.
Schneider said the court is expected to decide within several weeks whether to allow Maine and the other states to join the lawsuit. If successful, he said, the lawsuit would eliminate portions of the health reform law being challenged as unconstitutional, including a mandate that individuals must buy insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. The law includes a waiver for people who cannot afford insurance.
In an announcement Tuesday afternoon, Schneider said that “health care in the United States is at a critical point and needs to be fixed so that all citizens have access to good quality and affordable health care. However, the repairs to the system cannot be based on an unconstitutional foundation. The federal health care reform law mandates all citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a costly penalty. This would be an unprecedented expansion of federal power, violating the 10th Amendment and Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.”
Both Schneider and Gov. Paul LePage have criticized the law and pledged to help overturn it.
“I am pleased that Maine is now among the states standing against the individual insurance mandates included in the federal Affordable Care Act,” LePage said in a written statement. “We are not a free people if the government can compel a private citizen to purchase a private product like health insurance. I applaud Attorney General Bill Schneider’s decision.”
The administration of LePage’s predecessor, Gov. John Baldacci, had supported the health care law, along with the Maine Medical Association and health care advocacy groups.
A group called the Maine Can Do Better Coalition, which includes the AARP, American Lung Association of Maine and several other organizations, has announced plans to hold a rally today to urge LePage, Schneider and the Legislature to support the Affordable Care Act. The rally, which was postponed from last week, will take place at 11:30 a.m. outside the State House in Augusta.
Supporters of the law say the so-called individual mandate is constitutional and is needed to keep the cost of caring for uninsured patients from driving up health care prices and insurance premiums.
“That money pays for the care that we make available. We’re not going to stop people at the emergency room door,” said Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association. “This would be a real blow” to health care reform.
Smith said about 75 percent of Maine physicians who belong to the association support the law as a way to extend health insurance and health care to more Mainers. Association representatives had a cordial meeting with Schneider last week to express their support for the law, but knew that had not changed his mind, Smith said.
“We’re profoundly disappointed” about the decision to join the challenge, Smith said. But “(Schneider) understands that we need health care reform and he understands the importance of covering everyone. His focus is pretty narrow on the individual mandate” and a requirement that states expand Medicaid, he said.
Schneider said the cost of joining the suit has been negligible.
If Maine is allowed to participate, it’s not expected to have a significant impact in the outcome, Smith said.
The Florida suit and similar challenges filed in other states are expected to ultimately put the dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court. Lower courts have so far issued mixed rulings on the challenges, with two courts upholding the law and one striking it down.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a written statement Tuesday that the latest states to join the challenge strengthen the case in the courts, and in Congress.
“It sends a strong message that more than half of the states consider the health care law unconstitutional and are willing to fight it in court,” she said.
The announcement about additional states joining the challenge came as the House of Representatives debated a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Besides Maine, the states seeking to join the Florida case are Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Other states that are suing are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at: jrichardson@pressherald.com
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