Utah joins lawsuit against federal government over Obamacare

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has joined 19 other states in suing the federal government over the Affordable Care Act.

Attorney General Sean Reyes announced Utah’s part in the lawsuit against the federal government, which challenges the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, in an emailed statement Thursday.

The suit claims that since Congress passed a tax reform that eliminated the tax penalty associated with the individual mandate, Obamacare is no longer constitutional.

“Utah has always believed that the ACA was an impermissible overreach of the federal authority,” Reyes said in the statement.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the penalty imposed by the federal government against citizens who chose not to buy insurance is a form of taxation and Congress has the power to levy taxes, therefore making it constitutional.

The 20-state coalition is led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel. The coalition includes Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.

“This lawsuit will clear the path for states and Congress to move forward with solutions that work better for Americans and are in line with constitutional limits on government power,” Reyes said.