MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to dismiss Oklahoma's lawsuit challenging the federal health care law.
A hearing started at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Muskogee where attorneys representing the U.S. government asked U.S. District Judge Ronald White to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.
The motion to dismiss is filed on behalf of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Oklahoma refused to create a state-run health insurance exchange and will instead have an insurance exchange run by the federal government.
Pruitt argues that states with federally run exchanges could be punished under an IRS rule that allows it to levy millions of dollars in tax penalties on "large employers," which include state or local governments.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.