By joining the legal argument against the Affordable Care Act, Schmidt seeks to protect the rights of Kansas and the 25 other states challenging the law. The case against the individual mandate challenges a “claim of power by the Congress that it never before has claimed,” he says. “Congress may not exercise a power that it does not have … and that’s what we’re fighting.” Regarding Medicaid expansion, Schmidt says states really don’t have a choice but to accept the change in order to keep federal funding for the costly program. However, he acknowledges that there are “underlying issues in the health care access, delivery and financing circumstances that brought us to this point in the first place.” The legal challenge to health reform does not mean the health care system should go untouched, Schmidt says. “Our position is not that nothing should happen. Our position is that … Congress has to color within the lines.” This is the third of six short videos.

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