13 States are alleging that the federal health care and insurance bill passed by Congress in March 2010, and signed into law by President Barack Obama, is unconstitutional.

The main argument is that the new federal health care law far exceeds federal legal authority under Article I and the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The states state that the health care reform law imposes an illegal tax penalty against a state’s citizens and legal residents who do not have qualifying health care coverage. Such “illegal” tax may be an unlawful direct tax that violates Article I, sections 2 and 9 of the U.S. Constitution.