Health Science Post
December 21, 2012
India Post
13
www.indiapost.com
US files to dismiss Oklahoma health care lawsuit OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's lawsuit challenging the federal health care overhaul amounts only to a ``difference of opinion'' and should be dismissed, lawyers for the federal government say. Pruitt is challenging the health care law's implementation. Lawyers for the federal government filed papers urging U.S. District Judge Ronald White to throw out the case. They said that Pruitt has asked the court to resolve ``abstract questions of political power, of sovereignty, of government'' involving the Affordable Care Act rather than litigate personal or property rights or sovereign rights that are actually threatened, ``Oklahoma's reading of the Affordable Care Act presents only a `difference of opinion' between the state and the federal government, not a case or controversy,'' the motions filed in U.S. District Court in Muskogee states. ``Under these principles, Oklahoma lacks standing to litigate any of the counts in its amended complaint.'' The government's motion says that while the state's lawsuit is creative at times, it offers nothing more
than conjecture and speculation while challenging the new health care law. The motion says the state does not have legal standing to sue the federal government on behalf of its citizens ``because the federal government is presumed to represent the state's citizens.''
The case remained dormant while the U.S. Supreme Court decided a separate lawsuit filed earlier by Florida and 25 other states that also challenged the law Pruitt, a Republican former state senator and frequent critic of federal government policies under Democratic President Barack Obama, filed the lawsuit in January 2011 shortly after he took office. It challenged the constitutionality of the federal law and its requirement that all Americans purchase private health insurance or pay a penalty.
But the case remained dormant while the U.S. Supreme Court decided a separate lawsuit filed earlier by Florida and 25 other states that also challenged the law and its individual mandate. In a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court upheld the health care law on June 28. Pruitt amended his lawsuit to challenge a new Internal Revenue Service rule that will help implement the law. The amended complaint seeks recognition that a voter-approved amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution protects citizens from mandated purchases of health care. It also alleges that federal regulations and plans to create online insurance marketplaces do not comply with the Administrative Procedures Act and should be invalidated. The insurance exchanges, a key component of the health care law, will allow people to shop for health insurance and buy policies. Oklahoma and some other Republicancontrolled states have resisted setting up new online marketplaces. The law allows the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary to establish exchanges in states that choose not to. -AP
Ohio House clears rules for health 'navigators' COLUMBUS, Ohio: Ohio lawmakers moved quickly to pass a bill setting training and certification requirements for a new group of professionals who will help guide consumers through the new health insurance exchange. The so-called health navigators, who may work for community groups, for example, will help educate consumers and small businesses about the new online markets created by the federal health care law. Through these online exchanges, consumers will be able to buy individual private policies and apply for government subsidies to help pay their premiums. The exchanges open for business Jan. 1, 2014, but open enrollment for insurance plans begins Oct. 1 of next year. Ohio's bill requires navigators to pass criminal background checks and specifies what navigators cannot do, such as sell, solicit or negotiate health insurance. Rep. Barbara Sears, the bill's sponsor, says the measure would serve as a blueprint as the state moves forward to meet the federal requirements. The bill cleared a legislative committee before the full Ohio House passed it on a 56-32 vote.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where it will be shuffled into the flurry of last-minute, lameduck session action. The state Department of Insurance supports the proposed regulations. Ohio has opted for a partnership with the federal government to run the exchange but
Ohio's bill requires navigators to pass criminal background checks and specifies what navigators cannot do, such as sell, solicit or negotiate health insurance doesn't intend to run its own navigator program. An official with the insurance department told lawmakers Ohio can regulate navigators without running its own program. ``Running the navigator program and regulating those participating in it could create a difficult, if not inappropriate, relationship,'' said Michael Farley, department assistant director for legislative affairs. -AP