Texas governor rejects expansion of Medicaid program

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
7/9/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

'I will not be party to socializing healthcare,' Governor Rick Perry declares

Texas will not implement an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor or create a health insurance exchange, Governor Rick Perry declared. The edict left Texas with the highest percentage of people without health insurance outside President Barack Obama's signature law.

'I will not be party to socializing healthcare and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government,' Texas Governor Rick Perry said.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The announcement renders Texas as the most populous state that has rejected the provisions. Approximately 6.2 million people are without insurance in Texas, 24.6 percent of the state population. (California has more people without insurance but a lower percentage.)

Perry has joined his fellow Republican governors in Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Louisiana in rejecting the two provisions of the new law. These governors are counting on November elections that will result in Republicans winning the White House and enough seats in Congress to repeal the law.

"I will not be party to socializing healthcare and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government," Perry said.

Perry sent a letter on Monday to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking her to relay the message to Obama that Perry opposes the provisions "because both represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state."

"I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the Obamacare power grab. Neither a 'state' exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under this program would result in better 'patient protection' or in more 'affordable care,'" Perry said. The governor dropped out of the Republican presidential race last January. "They would only make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care."

The state of Texas was one of 26 that challenged in court the 2010 law known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The stipulation is that if any states resist the healthcare plan, and do not create insurance exchanges, the federal government will establish them for the states. The exchanges are intended to extend health coverage to an additional 16 million people, while the Medicaid expansion broadens eligibility requirements to cover another 16 million people.

The Supreme Court said Congress went too far in the part of the law that requires states to expand Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income people.

Perry recently declared Medicaid as a failure on Fox News.

"To expand this program is like adding a thousand people to the Titanic," Perry said on Fox. "You don't expand a program that is not working already. If the federal government were serious about finding solutions, what they would do is block-grant those dollars back to the states, so states could find more efficient ways to deliver healthcare."

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
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Keywords: Texas, Obamacare, Rick Perry, refusal, health insurance

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1 - 5 of 5 Comments

Kasoy
10 months ago
I am also opposed to wars and sending our young men to countries where we have no business being there and supporting big businesses engaged in weapons manufacture. I rather like to see our govt spend money on national security and law enforcement in lieu of those. However, I also don't see the longterm benefit for America getting deeper and deeper into providing welfare to things that can normally be provided for by individuals and families. Bloomberg Businessweek article on the current French welfare mess 'France's Fraying Social Safety Net' Mar 1, 2012 may provide a different view on this. It's about the welfare mess which consumes 31% of France's GDP, 19.9B euro deficit in 2012 with some people going to private charities to survive. In some Asian countries now, there is a booming business called "medical tourism". This boomed under less restrictive govt regulation and intervention. Health insurance is also a very competitive business. Some hospitals chains offer locations right next to beach resorts with hotel-quality level facilities. Medical care has become more affordable with better quality as a result of competition as foreign medical care investors are allowed to compete with locals. I can only wish similar business booms along the Mexican border so CA, AZ, NM, TX residents can have access to low-cost, high quality healthcare.
Rob
10 months ago
Kasoy, you are spot on about a state being concerned about sustainability. However, I think what you have in the case of these governors rejecting this expansion is more political than anything else. The typical punch line is let the states manage their own healthcare system. If Texas or any other state has ideas about how to make it sustainable, then put the ideas out there. Oddly enough, Massachusetts sets a pretty good precedent. It's not perfect, but working.

But I think one area that I think we should examine more closely is healthcare being referred to as charity and equally as a pure business. Personally, I think that healthcare is a right...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And truth be told, I would rather my tax dollars be invested in providing healthcare to my fellow citizens than endless wars, weapons of mass destruction and bridges to no where. I would like a healthcare system in this country that actually focuses on helping people as opppossed to making money. The prospect of helping your fellow man as you describe seems to be lost in the business we call medicine.
Kasoy
10 months ago
You sometimes have to look at the longterm effect of any policy to be implemented by the state. Will such a policy be sustainable? (note that federal funds to be transferred to the states to support expanded Medicaid are taxpayers money too, it's not created out of thin air) If not, what sustainable alternatives can be taken? State management is not too different in running a corporation. States must live within their means (budget). Texas probably don't want to get into the same situation as California is in now. Unsustainable programs can bankrupt even large states like Texas and California. States can't keep raising taxes to meet growing subsidized social programs, otherwise people and businesses will leave those states. Joblessness will grow. Taxes will shrink. Then social programs will simply stop. Everyone will suffer. As Catholics, we all want to help others in need. But govt cannot mandate charity. Charity is based on love and genuine concern fo others. It cannot be commanded (mandated). Can't we imagine an America with no govt mandated social programs like Medicare and Medicaid or retirement benefits program? Can't we imagine Americans once again relying on themselves to provide healthcare, education, and retirement funds for themselves and their families out of their own hard-earned money and savings without govt help? Can't we imagine Americans living a frugal and healthy lifestyle instead of Americans living extravagantly and unhealthily then demanding govt assistance to save them from the consequences of their wrong decisions? Can't we imagine an America where needy people are taken cared for by their own families, immediate communities, or local churches instead of govt agencies? Can't we imagine an America where Catholic charities and other philanthropic foundations are at the forefront of helping the poor instead of govt. Can't we imagine Americans who once again show love and genuine concern for their brothers in need as their "keepers" instead of Americans paying high taxes then sending their brothers in need to govt if they need help? Can't we imagine Americans providing the financial and medical needs of their elderly parents who can no longer work for a living instead of relying on Medicare and govt retirement benefits? Have Americans relinquished their moral responsibilities as their "brothers' keepers" to govt by simply paying their taxes? Texas may be pointing the way to a better way to manage the states - low taxes to encourage businesses, more jobs, less entitlements programs. Then people will have more capacity not only to help themselves but also others in need. Perhaps people will learn to become truly compassionate and realize the true meaning of shared responsibility towards our fellowmen.
Rob
10 months ago
When the time comes all these guys will take the money. Just like when the "rejected" the stimulus funds but then quietly accepted them to plug their state budget shortfalls. Just more drama. But Governor Perry is right on one point, we do have an election coming and at some point he'll be able to explain to his voters why this isn't a good idea. 25% of the population in TX might disagree with him.
JayKaye
10 months ago
Where do these radicals get off? As Governor, aren't they bound to follow the laws set down for all people? They should be held responsible to any injury or loss or even death to their citizens, who could have lived or not suffered due to their contempt of what the laws are. We are all equal and subject to punishment if we do not live within the laws, so how can they take their extreme political stance to cause their own people to suffer needless problems associated with inadequate medical care? They ALL take the Federal Governments money when handed out, but cannot stop acting like children throwing tantrums and stamping their feet when it comes to humanitarian aide within the very own state they should be working for, not against.

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