When the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments Monday on the health care law, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens will have a coveted seat in the courtroom, where where he will monitor the case on behalf of the state's residents.
Georgia is one of the 26 states challenging the law on constitutional grounds. The states are arguing that the federal government doesn't have the authority to require Americans to buy insurance and charge them a penalty if they don't. The states also say the feds are overstepping with the law's provision calling for a massive expansion of Medicaid, the health care program for the poor.
Olens said the arguments against the law will be compelling.
"Never before has Congress told Americans that you can be taxed for the failure to buy a product," Olens said.
The states selected high-profile attorney Paul Clement, who was President George W. Bush's solicitor general, to argue their case. While Clement will be in the spotlight, Olens said his office has helped prepare the legal briefs for the case. Georgia has also helped craft the legal strategy through a set of standing phone calls during which attorneys general from across the country weighed in on the case, Olens said.
"We have been very involved," Olens said.
Like Americans overall, Georgians are divided on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. While many Georgians support the state's challenge of the law, many others do not.
Georgians for a Healthy Future, an Atlanta-based advocacy organization, helped to organize a rally to be held at the state Capitol Monday to protest Georgia's involvement in the lawsuit.
Cindy Zeldin, the group's executive director, said the law includes a host of consumer protections that will help Georgians, including provisions that make sure people get more value and clearer information from insurers. The law also seeks to extend insurance coverage to about 2 million Georgians who don't have it.
"The reason we're supportive of this law is because it's the best opportunity we have ever had to really make a dent in our uninsured rate and to improve some of the access and quality indicators, with respect to health care, that are so poor in Georgia," she said.
Mike Sullivan employs about 25 people at Southeast Sealing, a specialty contractor based in Rockdale County. He already provides health coverage for his employees, but he still doesn't like the law. He objects to the way it was passed in Washington and he believes it will continue to drive up the cost of insurance. He's seen the price of coverage for his employees jump by about 25 percent for four years straight.
Sullivan said he's especially opposed to the mandate requiring everyone to get coverage. "I don't think people should be forced into doing anything," he said. "I thought this was a free country."
Ed Levitt, a stage IV lung cancer survivor, and his wife, Linda, object to Georgia's involvement in the lawsuit. "It bothers me a lot -- big time," Levitt said.
Levitt was shocked when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2003. He didn't smoke. He lived a healthy lifestyle. But his prognosis was so grave that he started planning his funeral. During years of treatments that have been stunningly successful, he and his wife have seen the havoc that cancer brings to people's lives. It's routine for people with cancer to lose their jobs and benefits, or to find themselves responsible for huge medical bills even if they have insurance. Many are driven to bankruptcy, they said. They have also seen the health care system stretched financially to care for people who have no coverage.
"I don't think the health care law is perfect, but I know our health care system needs a huge overhaul and it's a step in the right direction," Linda Levitt said.
Ed Levitt agrees: "It's certainly better than what we have."
Olens said Georgia's challenge of the law doesn't mean state political leaders think the current health care system is perfect.
"The issue isn't whether or not we need improvements," he said. "The issue is whether those improvements are legal."
Debbie Dooley, a Gwinnett County resident who is a national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, strongly supports Georgia's challenge of the law. "All of us fear that if this is upheld that it could be the first step. What else is the government going to . . . require you to purchase?" she said.
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