Business group joins health care lawsuit
Source: Agencies |
May 16, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A NATIONAL business lobbying group joined 20 states on Friday in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's overhaul of the United States' health care system.
The joint lawsuit, led by Florida, was filed on March 23 by mostly Republican attorneys general.
It claims the sweeping reform of the US$2.5 trillion health care system, pushed through by Democrats in Congress after months of bitter partisan wrangling, violates state government rights in the US Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Florida governor, told a news conference in Tampa an amended version of the lawsuit was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
In addition to seven states not named in the original complaint, McCollum said plaintiffs in the lawsuit now included the National Federation of Independent Business.
The NFIB describes itself as the leading association representing small businesses in America.
Karen Harned, who heads the NFIB's Washington-based small business legal center, said the health care reform law was both unconstitutional and bad for business.
"The federal government has really simply gone too far with this law," she said.
Any health care overhaul should have addressed the problem of "outrageously high health care insurance costs" in America, but that did not happen, Harned added.
"After all the political deals were made, small businesses were left with a law that does little to address costs and instead is filled with new mandates, taxes and paperwork requirements that increase the cost of doing business."
The joint lawsuit, led by Florida, was filed on March 23 by mostly Republican attorneys general.
It claims the sweeping reform of the US$2.5 trillion health care system, pushed through by Democrats in Congress after months of bitter partisan wrangling, violates state government rights in the US Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Florida governor, told a news conference in Tampa an amended version of the lawsuit was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
In addition to seven states not named in the original complaint, McCollum said plaintiffs in the lawsuit now included the National Federation of Independent Business.
The NFIB describes itself as the leading association representing small businesses in America.
Karen Harned, who heads the NFIB's Washington-based small business legal center, said the health care reform law was both unconstitutional and bad for business.
"The federal government has really simply gone too far with this law," she said.
Any health care overhaul should have addressed the problem of "outrageously high health care insurance costs" in America, but that did not happen, Harned added.
"After all the political deals were made, small businesses were left with a law that does little to address costs and instead is filled with new mandates, taxes and paperwork requirements that increase the cost of doing business."
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