Thread: GOP May Sue Over Healthcare Bill's 'Nebraska Compromise'

GOP May Sue Over Healthcare Bill's 'Nebraska Compromise'
McClatchy Newspapers/The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) said Tuesday that he and top prosecutors in a half-dozen other states plan to challenge the constitutionality of a health care compromise that exempts Nebraska from paying billions in Medicaid expansion costs, forcing other states to shoulder a bigger burden for the low-income insurance program.

The Texas attorney general said he will join with Republican counterparts in up to six other states to challenge what they call the "Nebraska Compromise," the political deal that secured Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson's crucial vote on a massive health care package in exchange for concessions for his state.

One of the biggest gains for Nebraska requires the federal government to indefinitely pick up the full share of Nebraska’s cost for expanding Medicaid, a federal-state program that provides medical coverage for low-income Americans.

Other states will continue to finance the expansion. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), said the Lone Star State's share could be up to $20 billion over 10 years.

"The Nebraska Compromise, which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Texas and all other 49 states must pay, may violate the United States Constitution — as well as other provisions of federal law," said Abbott, denouncing the provision as an "unprecedented and highly questionable backroom deal."

Abbott said his office will "explore all available avenues to challenge and overturn this legally problematic provision. Our democratic system of government depends upon transparency and openness — this backroom deal goes too far and must be challenged because Texas deserves better."

Nelson’s commitment assured Democrats of 60 votes to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster and move the healthcare package toward likely passage by the Senate this week. Nelson, who had expressed deep misgivings about aspects of the bill, had withheld his support until he and Senate leaders reached the compromise over fierce Republican objections.

In a telephone interview, Abbott said he and his counterparts have been discussing their legal options but probably won’t act until after the bill passes.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said the legal action in his state was requested by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, according to The Associated Press.

"We have serious concerns about the constitutionality of this Nebraska compromise as it results in special treatment for only one state in the nation at the expense of the other 49," Graham and DeMint said in a letter to McMaster. "Nebraska does not have to come up with a single dollar."

Nebraska wasn’t alone in getting Medicaid breaks. Vermont, Louisiana and Massachusetts also got help with their programs, according to the AP.

http://www.newmediajournal.us/government/12232009.htm

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-182613.html

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I doubt they carry through, they probably don't have standing