13 AGs File Suit to Block Health Reform Mandates

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said of the healthcare law: "For the first time, the federal government is forcing Nebraskans to purchase a good or service. Today's court filing is the first step toward reining in Congress' unprecedented expansion of power."

Tom Arnold, secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, attended the Tallahassee press conference and said the costs to the state's Medicaid program associated with the "full implementation" of the national healthcare reforms will be an additional $1.1 billion. "In addition to that, should the reconciliation package pass, there will be an additional almost $300 million in raising Medicaid fees to the Medicare level. And there would be administrative costs that would be anywhere from $100 million to $200 million," Arnold said.

McCollum said the reforms would "literally cost the state of Florida ultimately billions of dollars, at a time when the state is trying to fill a $3 billion budget shortfall. Forcing the state to assume that burden is way beyond the means of our state to do when we are considering the kinds of problems we have today," McCollum said.