Obama health overhaul argued in Ohio federal court

CINCINNATI (AP) — An attorney is urging a federal appeals panel in Ohio to draw a line against expanding federal power by rejecting President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul.

Atty. Robert Muise told a three-judge 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel today that a mandate to buy health insurance goes beyond congressional authority. The government contends that it's needed to make overall changes work for a health care system that virtually everyone uses at some time.

The Cincinnati panel heard arguments on the rejection by a federal judge in Michigan of a constitutional challenge by the conservative Thomas More Law Center.

More than 30 legal challenges to the law have been filed, with mixed results so far in a debate expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.