When four out of five state attorneys general speak with one urgent voice to Congress about a consumer protection issue, Congress would be wise to listen.

The Senate, particularly, should give close attention to the warning 41 attorneys general have sent about a pending bill, which goes to the Senate floor today, that supporters say will let small businesses afford health care for their employees. Excellent objective, but if the bipartisan group of state officials know what they’re talking about, S.1955 is so seriously flawed that rather than making health care coverage more affordable and accessible, the reverse could be true.

Republican attorneys general Rob McKenna of Washington and Lawrence Wasden of Idaho are among the 41 names on the letter that went to all senators under the letterhead of the National Association of Attorneys General. Democrats Hardy Myers of Oregon and Mike McGrath of Montana signed, too.

As the chief consumer protection enforcers in their respective states, these officials deserve a respectful audience before the Senate acts hastily under the influence of glowing claims that may not withstand close legal analysis.

The measure, known as the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, or HIMMA, is meant to provide affordable insurance programs for small businesses that can’t afford them now. Unfortunately, it does this by overriding state laws that specify basic levels and areas of coverage.

In short, it gives the federal government authority that previously belonged to the states.

On the surface, there’s merit in the idea of letting insurance carriers offer streamlined plans that would be more affordable to cash-strapped small businesses. But, as the attorneys general point out, the danger posed by HIMMA is that it would also likely wipe out coverage for many preventive and diagnostic procedures that promote wellness and drive health-care expenses down.

“We know from past experience that exempting plans like this from state law harms consumers,” the attorneys general letter said.

That’s the “past experience,” remember, of 41 public officials who head up their states’ top legal offices. In the mid-‘70s, they noted, Congress enacted a similar law that left about 398,000 consumers with more than $123 million in unpaid claims.

At its core, this is a states’ rights issue. It is critical that the federal government seek reasonable solutions to ballooning health care costs, but federal supersession of state laws aimed at protecting consumers and taxpayers is not reasonable.