Twelve state attorneys general filed an amicus brief (pdf) with the Supreme Court in support of the healthcare reform law's expansion of the Medicaid program.
Oregon, Vermont, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York as well as Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington signed onto the brief.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will expand Medicaid eligibility to almost all non-elderly adults who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level in 2014, but that provision — along with the individual mandate — are being challenged on constitutional grounds.
John Kroger, JD, attorney general of Oregon and the counsel of record, said the PPACA would allow Oregon to cut its uninsured population to 5 percent by 2019 if the Medicaid expansion were upheld, a significant drop compared with the 23.8 percent to 27.4 percent rate without the reforms.
Additionally, the AGs argued that an expansion of Medicaid would remain constitutional because the PPACA does nothing to change the cooperative partnership between the states and the federal government, according to the brief.
In January, 26 states opposing the PPACA argued the Medicaid expansion is linked to the individual mandate and is unconstitutionally coercive because Medicaid is a voluntary program.
Oregon, Vermont, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York as well as Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington signed onto the brief.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will expand Medicaid eligibility to almost all non-elderly adults who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level in 2014, but that provision — along with the individual mandate — are being challenged on constitutional grounds.
John Kroger, JD, attorney general of Oregon and the counsel of record, said the PPACA would allow Oregon to cut its uninsured population to 5 percent by 2019 if the Medicaid expansion were upheld, a significant drop compared with the 23.8 percent to 27.4 percent rate without the reforms.
Additionally, the AGs argued that an expansion of Medicaid would remain constitutional because the PPACA does nothing to change the cooperative partnership between the states and the federal government, according to the brief.
In January, 26 states opposing the PPACA argued the Medicaid expansion is linked to the individual mandate and is unconstitutionally coercive because Medicaid is a voluntary program.
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