State Bids to Block Health Reform Could Bring ‘Free-for-All Lawsuit’
A constitutional clash could emerge between the states and the federal government in a battle over the health reform law awaiting President Obama’s signature.
Already, Idaho and Virginia have passed laws seeking to thwart the federal bill requiring individuals to carry health insurance, Reuters reports. In 36 other states, bills and resolutions have been introduced seeking to limit or reform the health plan, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
NCLS legislative counsel Michael Bird predicted a legal showdown. “There’s going to be a big free-for-all lawsuit about this,” he told Reuters.
States seeking to nullify the federal mandate cite the 10th Amendment reserving powers to the states. But they face a big constitutional hurdle, scholars say: the supremacy clause. “Under the 10th Amendment, if Congress enacts a law pursuant to one of the ‘powers …. delegated to the United States by the Constitution,’ then that law is supreme, and nothing a state can do changes this,” says Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett, writing for the Washington Post. “Any state power to ‘nullify’ unconstitutional federal laws has long been rejected.”
States seeking to challenge the legislation as unconstitutional face another legal hurdle, according to Stanford Law School professor David Freeman Engstrom. The issue, he told the Washington Post in a different article, is whether states have standing to sue.
Barnett suggests another way states can fight the health care law. If two-thirds of the states demand an amendment barring a federal mandate, Congress would have to hold a constitutional convention. “The very threat of an amendment convention would probably induce Congress to repeal the bill,” Barnett says.
Prior and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Va. Sets Stage for Court Battle Over Federal Power to Require Health Insurance”
ABAJournal.com: ” ‘Smart Money’ Says Supreme Court Won’t Thwart Health Care Bill, Law Prof Says”
