Arguments in twenty-state legal challenge to health law begin Thursday; Medicaid expansion central to action

Health News Florida/The News Service of Florida: Fla. Case Still Matters, McCollum Says
Florida's lawsuit against the new federal health care law isn't any less important in light of a ruling Monday by a federal judge in Virginia invalidating a key component, backers of the Florida challenge said. In a statement released shortly after Monday's ruling, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said the state will proceed to make arguments Thursday in Pensacola, asking U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson to go further than the Virginia ruling. He's being asked to invalidate the expansion of Medicaid to nearly 2 million anticipated additional recipients whose care would be partially paid by the state under the new law (Peltier, 12/14).

CQ HealthBeat: Health Care Legal Challenge Spotlight Turns To Medicaid Next
In a Florida courtroom on Thursday, the 20 states fighting the health care law will attack its expansion of the nation's Medicaid program — a sweeping provision that extends health coverage to millions of needy American adults (Norman, 12/14).