AG Cooper declines to join lawsuit against HC bill

RALEIGH, NC (AP) - North Carolina's attorney general says the state will not join a lawsuit that seeks to overturn President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a letter Friday to Gov. Beverly Perdue that health care is a policy decision that should be decided by elected representatives and not appointed federal judges.

He said there's ample time for elected officials to change the legislation since most provisions in dispute don't take effect until 2013. More than a dozen attorneys general have joined a lawsuit that claims the federal government cannot force citizens to buy health coverage.

They also argue the federal government is violating the Constitution by forcing a mandate on the states without providing money to pay for it.