Texas Republican Lobbyist News: Rick Perry Takes Stand Against Obamacare
Governor Rick Perry has publicly announced that the state of Texas will not execute some parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare.” The Supreme court recently upheld most parts of the Affordable Care Act in a landmark decision.
“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,”
Rick Perry.
Specifically, Governor Perry claimed in a letter sent to the US Department of Health and Human Services that he will not expand Medicaid coverage or provide state health exchanges, intended to create a pool of insured people.
Governor Perry is not the only governor to take such a stance. The governors of Louisiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Florida have taken similar stances.
While the federal government cannot require states to expand Medicare or provide health exchanges, the government will provide an online service for people to shop for health insurance. The federal government agreed to pay the full tab for the Medicaid expansion when it begins in 2014. But after three years, states must pay a gradually increasing share that tops out at 10 percent of the cost.
“A Texas Medical Association survey given to The Associated Press over the weekend found that the number of Texas doctors willing to accept government-funded health insurance plans for the poor and the elderly has dropped dramatically amid complaints about low pay and red tape. Only 31 percent of Texas doctors said they were accepting new patients who rely on Medicaid. In 2010, the last time the survey was done, 42 percent of doctors were accepting new Medicaid patients. In 2000, that number was 67 percent.”