ND's AG demands health bill change

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is one of 13 Republican attorneys general who wants federal health care legislation stripped of a provision that favors the state of Nebraska.

The language exempts Nebraska from paying for expanded Medicaid coverage for some of the state's residents. Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson pushed for it, and it's worth an estimated $100 million to the state.

Stenehjem and 12 other Republican attorneys general sent a letter Wednesday to the Democratic leadership in Congress demanding removal of the provision. They say it's "constitutionally flawed."

Stenehjem says taxpayers in the other 49 states would have to pay for the benefit. He says it amounts to bribing a U.S. senator.