Oregon Legislator Objects to State's Defense of National Healthcare

"I just hate to see us waste taxpayer money" -Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford

Rep. Sal Esquivel

(SALEM, Ore.) - Attorney General John Kroger's promise to defend the national health care plan drew criticism Thursday from a House Republican.

Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, questions why Kroger and Gov. Ted Kulongoski are pledging to defend the nearly $1 trillion health care law signed by President Barack Obama last week.

"This just doesn't make sense," Esquivel told Legal Newsline. "But only the governor and the AG know if what they're doing is politically motivated."

Tony Green, a spokesman for the attorney general, told the legal news service that his office decided to publicly announce their intentions to defend the law to show there is support for the law.

"Obviously, the federal government would be the front-line defender in the lawsuit," Green told Legal Newsline, explaining that Oregon's role might only be limited to filing an amicus brief. "But we have not precluded other options that might emerge," he added.

Esquivel is the ranking Republican member on the House Revenue Committee. He said it makes no sense for Kroger and Kulongoski to offer legal assistance when the Obama administration has ample resources to defend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

"I just hate to see us waste taxpayer money," Esquivel was quoted as saying.

The new health care law is aimed at expanding coverage and cutting costs. But Esquivel said if congressional Democrats were truly serious about cutting heath care costs they would have adopted tort reforms and allowed Americans to purchase medical insurance across state lines.

"Those are the two key factors to lowering the cost of health care," he said. "We need health care reform but this law is about taxing people to pay for insurance for those without it."

Esquivel said he is generally opposed to the health care overhaul that will also require Americans to have health insurance or face penalties, and add millions of people to Medicaid rolls at the expense of already cash-strapped states.

The law marks the most significant expansion of medical care since Congress created Medicare in 1965 for the nation's elderly and disabled. "I would not object if we could afford to pay for it all without raising taxes," Esquivel said, noting that the law provides subsidies to help low- and middle-income workers buy coverage and also calls for new taxes on wealthy Americans and the nation's well-insured.

More than a dozen state attorneys general -- all Republicans but one -- are suing the federal government, claiming the individual insurance mandate violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Legal Newsline noted.