Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — New Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today sent a letter to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi asking that Kansas be allowed to join the multi-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new federal health reform law.

Schmidt, a Republican who was sworn in Monday, said joining the lawsuit would be one of his first official acts as attorney general.

“This lawsuit is about standing up for the rule of law and protecting the liberties guaranteed by our Constitution,” Schmidt said in a prepared statement. “Our federal government is designed to be a government of limited, enumerated powers and we do not believe it has the power to order citizens into commerce so it can then regulate their conduct under authority of the (Constitution's) Commerce Clause. Whatever the merits or demerits of health care reform, the ends cannot justify an unconstitutional means.”

Schmidt in his letter asked that Florida file a motion asking the federal district court in Pensacola to let Kansas join the 20 states that originally brought the challenge. Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyoming are also requesting to join the suit. The lawsuit also includes the National Federation of Independent Businesses and two individuals.

If the motion is granted, the total number of states challenging the constitutionality of the law will grow to 26, according to the Attorney General's Office; 24 in Florida, and Virginia and Oklahoma each bringing separate lawsuits.

Florida, joined by other states, filed suit challenging the Affordable Care Act soon after it was signed into law by President Obama in March 2010. The judge has been briefed on the legal issues and a ruling could come at any time.

A federal judge in Virginia recently ruled in favor of Virginia's claim that the individual mandate provision of the health care law was unconstitutional.

The law, beginning in 2014, would require all who can afford health insurance to have it or pay a tax penalty. Supporters of the law say the mandate is essential to prevent people from waiting until they are sick to buy health insurance. Insurance companies say they couldn't afford to provide coverage if only sick people buy policies.

"The legal precedent that will be set in this case will reach far beyond health care," Schmidt said. "This is an historic defining of the relationship among our federal government, the states, and the liberty of individual American citizens. For those of us who believe that not all wisdom resides in Washington and, therefore, neither should all power, this is a constitutional fight worth fighting."

Jeff Wagman, a spokesman for the AG's office, said the office didn't anticipate there would be any cost to Kansas to become involved in the case except, "just probably some some staff time."

Schmidt said during his campaign against then-incumbent Attorney General Steve Six, a Democrat, that he expected the cost to the state would be minimal.

Six opposed joining the lawsuit, saying there was no practical reason for the state to join the lawsuit.

The reform law is being challenged in several states. Some lower-court federal judges have ruled for the law. The mix of decisions almost certainly means that the U.S. Supreme Court will be the ultimate arbiter of its legality.

The new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives also has among its first orders of business a vote to repeal the law. That vote was earlier expected to be today but was postponed in the wake of the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.