Cooper warns of consequences if NC opposes health care law

Attorney General Roy Cooper says a challenge to the federal health care law is “unenforceable” and could endanger federal health care funding to North Carolina.

As a result of the letter from Cooper, a spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue said the governor giving more thought on whether to veto the health care bill that the legislature passed this week. She has 10 days to make a decision.

The letter by Cooper came as the Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill challenging the new law pushed through by President Barack Obama, saying it imposed an unconstitutional mandate on citizens to buy health insurance.

“State legislatures cannot pick and chose which federal laws the state will obey,” Cooper, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to the governor and to legislative leaders.

Cooper said the new law could place in jeopardy federal funding for the state Medicaid program and the Children's Health Insurance Program.