AUGUSTA — Maine Attorney General William J. Schneider says he’s pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

The central provision in question is the requirement that individuals buy health insurance starting in 2014 or pay a penalty. Schneider says Maine looks forward to defending its position that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. He also says efforts to expand Medicaid are “unconstitutionally coercive.”

The 2010 health care overhaul aims to extend insurance coverage through an expansion of Medicaid, the requirement that individuals buy health insurance and other measures.

Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine says she’s confident the Supreme Court won’t “pull the rug out from all of those people who have already been covered by reform.”

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