STATE — Following a call from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham to investigate health care concessions promised to a Nebraska Senator in exchange for his vote on the health care reform bill, Attorney General Henry McMaster announced Wednesday that he was joining with attorney generals from other states in threatening legal action against the bill.

In an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, McMaster and the 12 other officials call the provision granted Nebraska “constitutionally flawed.”

“As chief legal officers of our state we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision, and we ask you to take action to render this challenge unnecessary by striking that provision,” the letter stares.

Graham called for an investigation following the announcement that Sen. Ben Nelson had agreed to vote for the health care reform package in exchange for Nebraska being granted an exemption from paying for expanded Medicaid coverage.

That concession is an example of what’s wrong with the bill, Graham said.

“If you want an idea of how bad this bill is, just look at the number of Democratic Senators who inserted special provisions exempting their states and businesses from the effects of this legislation. They know its going to be devastating.

“Written behind closed doors in backrooms of the Capitol — the legislation completely exempts one state, Nebraska, from paying for expanded Medicaid coverage, a requirement imposed on the 49 states,” Graham continued.

“This provision, if not unprecedented, is certainly among the most troubling to have ever passed the Senate.”

In the letter, the attorney generals object to Nebraska’s special treatment in the health care legislation, stating the deal means the federal government would have to pick up the tab for newly eligible Nebraskan Medicaid enrollees, under the terms of the agreement.

“In marked contrast all other states would not be similarly treated, and instead would be required to allocate substantial sums, potentially totaling billions of dollars, to accommodate H.R. 3590’s new Medicaid mandates,” the letter states. “In addition to violating the most basic and universally held notions of what is fair and just, we also believe this provision of H.R. 3590 is inconsistent with protections of afford by the United States Constitution against arbitrary legislation.

“Since the only basis of the Nebraska preference is arbitrary and unrelated to the substance of the legislation, it is unlikely that the difference would even survive minimal scrutiny,” the letter continues.

Striking the provision would “protect the Constitution and the rights of the citizens of our nation,” the letter states.

The 12 attorney generals who signed the bill are Washington’s Rob McKenna, Michigan’s Mike Cox, Texan Attorney General Greg Abbott, Colorado’s John Suthers, Alabam’s Troy King, North Dakota’s Wayne Stenehjem, Virginia’s Bill Mims, Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett, Utah’s Mark Shurtleff, Florida’s Bill McCollum, Idaho’s Lawrence Wasden and South Dakota’s Marty Jackley.