Kentucky's Attorney General fiddles while other states’ leaders protect their citizens

While federal officials continue to tout the benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), 20 states have won an important victory in the fight to sue the federal government over the constitutionality of the new law.

Judge Roger Vinson of Federal District Court in Pensacola, Fla., struck down the government's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit from trial.

The repercussions of Vinson's ruling on states’ powers cannot be overstated.

“Our whole system of federalism rests on the decisions of this case,” Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, the lawsuit’s lead plaintiff, told the New York Times.

Despite the fact that Kentuckians’ insurance premiums now are rising due to increasing costs caused by the federal plan, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway refuses to join the fight to prevent Washington’s takeover of the commonwealth’s health care policy.

Conway labeled a letter sent to him earlier this year by 29 state lawmakers requesting that he join the effort to stop the health care fiasco “a political stunt.”

But how should states respond? The Heritage Foundation's Gregg Girvan details how states can protect their citizens.

Girvan encourages states to "work toward customized state-level reforms aimed at empowering consumers rather than federal bureaucrats.”