Health Care BS

It looks like South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint are interested in the legality of Harry Reid’s payoff to Ben Nelson. The Nebraska Senator’s special Medicaid deal doesn’t pass the smell test, so they have asked their state AG to have a look:

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said Tuesday that he intends to organize his counterparts in different states to investigate dealmaking that sealed a final compromise on federal health care legislation.

There may indeed be grounds for the AGs to investigate the matter. Medicaid is administered by the states, but it is a federal program with a stringent set of rules and regulations. I doubt Reid can offer a special dispensation to any single state without violating those guidelines:

McMaster said the language of the Nelson provision appears to give the State of Nebraska a permanent exemption from paying the Medicaid expenses all other states in the nation will be required to pay.

This permanent exemption, in effect, forces the taxpayers of the other 49 states to subsidize Nebraska’s Medicaid program. Thus, other state AGs should be interested in pursuing this as well. McMaster apparently has the public commitment of at least one:

McMaster said that Attorney General Rob McKenna of Washington State has agreed to join the effort. He also said he intended to consult other attorneys general to for a group that would explore legal options.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. I hope it’s not just a stunt to make Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint appear to be on the case. Lately, it’s particularly difficult to trust Graham. Time will tell.

UPDATE:

McMaster now has six other state AGs working with him on this investigation:

Attorney General Henry McMaster said he and his counterparts in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas and Washington state—all Republicans—are jointly taking a look at the deal they’ve dubbed the ‘Nebraska compromise.’

The Texas AG says the deal may not pass muster with the Constitution:

The ‘Nebraska compromise,’ which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Texas and all other 49 states must pay, may violate the United States Constitution—as well as other provisions of federal law.’

Now it’s beginning to get interesting.