NU Online News Service, Aug. 27, 12:00 p.m.EDT

Kathleen Sebelius says Virginia Attorney General KennethCuccinelli got the list of defendants wrong when he sued to blockPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) health coverageownership requirements.

Mr. Cuccinelli persuaded U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson,a judge in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to agreeearlier this month to let him proceed with a suit arguing thatrequiring people and employers to own health insurance violatesAmericans' constitutional rights.

Ms. Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services, has come out with an answer contending that JudgeHudson should kill the suit because Mr. Cuccinelli sued the wrong person.

Ms. Sebelius said she does not believe that she is responsiblefor implementing the coverage mandates described in Section 1501 ofPPACA, which is part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) package.

"The secretary of the Treasury is primarily responsible for theadministration of the minimum coverage provision that the plaintiffseeks to challenge," Ms. Sebelius said in the answer.

Mr. Cuccinelli has not listed Treasury Secretary TimothyGeithner as a defendant in the suit, Cuccinelli vs. Sebelius,(CivilAction Number 3:10CV188-HEH)

Mr. Cuccinelli filed the suit March 23. He argued on behalf ofVirginia that PPACA Section 1501 goes beyond the outer limits of the CommerceClause of the U.S. Constitution, which permits Congress to regulateinterstate commerce, because "the failure--or refusal--of[Virginia] citizens to elect to purchase health insurance is not'economic activity' and therefore not subject to federal regulationunder the Commerce Clause," Judge Hudson writes in an opinionexplaining his ruling.

Mr. Cuccinelli also has argued that PPACA Section 1501 conflictswith the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act.

Ms. Sebelius told the court it should dismiss the suit becausePPACA Section 1501 is the "central ingredient of a complex healthcare regulatory scheme," based on the belief that, at some point,every individual will need medical services, and that allindividuals subject to the coverage ownership requirement ought tohelp reduce the amount of uncompensated medical services bypurchasing health coverage.

Ms. Sebelius also has argued that PPACA Section 1501 is barredby the Anti-Injunction Act because it relies on the authority ofCongress to use its taxing and spending power under the GeneralWelfare Act, and that the question is not yet ripe for reviewbecause the PPACA Section 1501 will not take effect until 2014.

Judge Hudson has ruled that the parties should file theirmotions for summary judgment in the PPACA case and supporting memoranda by Sept. 3, memoranda inopposition to the summary judgment motions by Sept. 23, and furthermemoranda supporting the summary judgment motions by Oct. 4.

Parties not directly involved in the case who want to filebriefs should do so by Oct. 4, the judge said.