GOP attorneys general attack Obamacare changes

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Eleven Republican state attorneys general say President Obama acted illegally by making changes to the Affordable Care Act without congressional approval.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the GOP officials slammed an executive action by President Obama allowing insurance companies to keep offering health plans that had been canceled for not meeting the Affordable Care Act's standards, The Hill reported Thursday.

"We support allowing citizens to keep their health insurance coverage," the letter said, "but the only way to fix this problem-ridden law is to enact changes lawfully: through congressional action. The illegal actions by this administration must stop."

The executive action, made because Obama had assured consumers they could keep their current health insurance plans if they were happy with them, was "flatly illegal under federal constitutional and statutory law," the attorneys general said.

The Hill said Sebelius' department did not respond to a request for comment.

The letter was written by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, but also signed by his GOP counterparts in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia.

The Republican attorney generals argue the Obama action violates precedents set by the U.S. Supreme Court.