Arizona joins the multistate health care lawsuit

May 15th, 2010 - 2:07 am ICT by BNO News  

PHOENIX, ARIZONA (BNO NEWS) — Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced on Friday that that her state has joined a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care legislation.

“Health care regulation is a power reserved to the States by the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Congress has overreached by requiring individuals to purchase health insurance and penalizing them if they do not,” said Governor Brewer.

“I have joined this suit on behalf of the citizens of Arizona to assure our State has a voice in the legal proceedings and to assure that Arizona citizens enjoy the benefits and protections of the lower court rulings in favor of the states.”

The multistate coalition on Friday filed an amended complaint in the lawsuit challenging the federal health care reform act, according to Governor Brewer’s press office.

The amended complaint now features 20 state plaintiffs; additionally, the National Federation of Independent Businesses joined the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff on behalf of its members nationwide.

The original lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor on March 23, 2010, minutes after the health care reform act was signed into law by President Obama.

In addition to Arizona, the states of Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada, Georgia and Alaska formally joined the lawsuit on Friday.

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