Iowa Attorney General lends support to health care act

DES MOINES - Attorney General Tom Miller has joined nine other attorneys general in signing a legal brief in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The brief, which was expected to be filed by the end of business on Friday, specifically supports the authority of the U.S. Congress to require people to carry health insurance, which is one of the provisions of the federal health care act.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear several lawsuits this year that challenge different parts of the act.

The amicus brief, also known as a friend-of-the-court brief, that Miller joined in filing Friday is tied to the case U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, which raises the issue of whether Congress has the authority to make such a requirement.

“Health care takes up one-sixth of our economy,” Miller said in a conference call with reporters and other attorneys general on Friday. “If anything is tied to interstate commerce, it is health care.”

The federal government has the power to make laws to regulate interstate commerce.

The attorneys general who joined the suit are from Maryland, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

All are Democrats, a point that Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler addressed in the call.

“The whole issue has become a partisan issue,” Gansler said. “It shouldn't be.”

He said attorneys general of all parties are invited to join the amicus brief.

Miller's inclusion on the brief puts him at odds with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who signed on with the opposing side when the Florida suit was filed last year.

“Gov. Branstad joined 25 other states in challenging the government takeover of health care because he believes that Iowans deserve to be heard on this critical matter,” Branstad's spokesman Tim Albrecht wrote in an email in response to Miller's decision to join the amicus brief Friday.

“The governor continues to believe that the government takeover of health care is unworkable and unaffordable for states.”