Gregoire Joins AG’s Lawsuit against ObamaCare

By John at April 1st, 2010.

Governor Gregoire announced today she’s joining Attorney General Rob McKenna’s lawsuit against the new health care reform law. Gregoire’s primary concern is the law’s huge Medicaid expansion and the increased financial liability for Washington taxpayers, since Medicaid is matching program between the federal government and the states.

In a letter to State Rep. Skip Priest, (R-Federal Way) Gregoire’s budget director said:

At this time, we do not know how many eligible persons would be generated [by the reform law]; how to measure their health status; or what the cost per person would be to provide their health care.

State Rep. Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham) also has concerns about the Medicaid expansion. When asked if the state can afford this, she said:

Actually for me I couldn’t specifically answer that. It’s a concern that we be able to find the matching funds to afford this … It’s a very complicated bill and we’re leaving it up to our healthcare committee to map out what questions are going to be asked.

Happy April Fools’ Day (but the quotes are real).

Tags: Gregoire, health care reform, Rob McKenna