NFIB Seeks To Add Two Plaintiffs to Lawsuit Challenging Reform Law
On Wednesday, the National Federation of Independent Business asked the Supreme Court to add two more plaintiffs to its lawsuit challenging the federal health reform law, the Wall Street Journal reports (Bravin/Maltby, Wall Street Journal, 1/5).
Background
The high court in November 2011 announced that it will review the legal challenges against the federal health reform law in March. Four lawsuits challenging the overhaul were presented to the justices, but the court selected only the multistate lawsuit filed by 26 states, NFIB and two individuals (California Healthline, 11/14/11).
The plaintiffs argue that the individual mandate in the reform law will negatively affect independent business owners. One the individuals, Mary Brown of Panama City, Fla., recently closed her auto repair shop and filed for personal bankruptcy, putting her legal standing to sue in question.
Request To Add More Plaintiffs
NFIB requested permission to add Dana Grimes of Greenwich, N.Y., and David Klemencic of West Virginia. Grimes owns a building and home contracting services business, and Klemencic owns a flooring business (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 1/4).
Mike Carvin, an attorney for NFIB, said the organization is confident that Brown still can sue but noted that two additional plaintiffs would help ensure there are no questions about legal standing (Wall Street Journal, 1/5).
Karen Harned of NFIB said, "The unfortunate and unpredictable change in Mary Brown's financial circumstances illustrates the tenuous nature of our economy but has no impact on Mary's or NFIB's ability to challenge the health care law" (CQ HealthBeat, 1/4).
The Department of Justice did not oppose the motion for adding the plaintiffs (Wall Street Journal, 1/5).
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