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 U.S. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin had challenged the right of
the federal government to continue making employer contributions to
Congressional health insurance plans even when lawmakers and their
staff purchase coverage through new Obamacare online exchanges.
U.S. District Judge William Griesbach, in Green Bay, dismissed the
lawsuit on Monday, saying Johnson had failed to show he had been
harmed by the regulation.
"There is nothing in the Constitution stipulating that all wrongs
must have remedies, much less that the remedy must lie in federal
court," Griesbach, who was appointed by former President George W.
Bush, said in his decision.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has been
the subject of years of political and legal attacks by Republicans,
including unsuccessful bids to repeal it.
Monday's ruling comes less than four months before elections in
which Republicans seek to expand their House majority and win
control of the Senate from Obama's fellow Democrats.
After the ruling, Johnson said he still believed the Obama
administration was exceeding its legal authority.
"(It) violated its own signature healthcare law by giving special
treatment to members of Congress and their staffs," he said in a
statement.
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"I believe that this executive action by the Obama administration is
unlawful and unfair, and that it is only one of many examples of
this president's abuse of his constitutional duty."
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 2012 ruling, upheld the law's
"individual mandate", a core provision requiring most Americans
obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty.
The law also created new online marketplaces where Americans can
shop for and buy insurance, with the goal of expanding coverage for
uninsured and under-insured people.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Writing by
Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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