Pruitt Stepping Up On National ObamaCare Fight
OK attorney general pressing fresh arguments against Obamacare
By Patrick B. McGuigan | CapitolBeatOK
OKLAHOMA CITY – Arguments against the Affordable Care Act are gaining momentum, even as a case in the eastern district of Oklahoma remains unresolved.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt last fall filed to shut down the ACA in Pruitt v. Sebelius. In briefs, the state has argued against an Internal Revenue Service rule punishing “large employers” — including local governments — with penalties if health-care exchanges are not created within a state.
Pruitt’s lead lawyer in the litigation, Patrick Wyrick, argues the strictures violate the act itself. The suit also contends the underlying IRS rule was created in a way that violated the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
In fresh legal maneuvers, Oklahoma moved last week to bolster arguments against ACA based on a ruling in the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In that Virginia case, Liberty University sued over the employer mandate and whether the Anti-Injunction Act applied to the facts of the case.