Schmidt: Health case a priority

in

AG-elect vows to quickly add Kansas to legal challenge of federal health care law

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 16, 2010

Attorney General-elect Derek Schmidt promised Tuesday that within days of taking office, he'll bring Kansas into a legal challenge of the federal health care law approved earlier this year.

Schmidt said during an interview with The Associated Press that he's already consulting with other attorneys general about existing lawsuits in federal courts. A Republican, he takes office Jan. 10.

"It's going to happen very quickly after I assume office," he said. "It will be measured in days at the outside."

Schmidt, the Kansas Senate's majority leader, unseated Democratic incumbent Steve Six, who'd refused to have Kansas join other states in challenging the health care law. For Schmidt and other critics of the law, a key issue is its mandate that most Americans buy health insurance, starting in 2014.

Schmidt said he's most likely to try to intervene in a federal lawsuit pending in Florida, involving 20 other states. Virginia has filed its own lawsuit.

He said he hasn't made a final decision but could have an announcement before he's sworn in.

Read the full article: Topeka Capital-Journal

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.