Perry rejects key provisions of Obama's health law

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Little surprise but then again he always does posturing like this and positions himself as the advocacy groups would have him. It's also important to keep in mind that while he appoints the health commissioner that is where his authority ends. He does not have much to do with the budget either.

I am interested for comments from the speaker and lt governor.


Texas rejects key provisions of Obama's health law

By Corrie MacLaggan

AUSTIN, Texas | Mon Jul 9, 2012 6:01pm EDT

(Reuters) - Governor Rick Perry said on Monday Texas will not implement an expansion of the Medicaid program or create a health insurance exchange, placing the state with the highest percentage of people without insurance outside key parts of President Barack Obama's signature law.

The announcement makes Texas the most populous state that has rejected the provisions. Some 6.2 million people are without health insurance in Texas, or 24.6 percent of the state population, the highest percentage in the nation. California has more people without insurance but a lower percentage.

Perry joined fellow Republican governors of Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Louisiana in rejecting the two provisions of the law, according to americanhealthline.com. They hope that November elections 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 in a statement.

He 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,'" said Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January. "They would only make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care."

Sebelius spokesman Keith Maley said the department "will continue to work with states to ensure they have the flexibility and resources they need to implement" the law known formally as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, is a frequent critic of the Obama administration and the author of a book on states' rights called "Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington." Perry in 2009 rejected federal funding for unemployment benefits because accepting it would have required Texas to expand the number of people entitled to draw the benefits.

CALLS MEDICAID A FAILURE

Texas was one of 26 states that challenged in court the 2010 health law.

If any states resisting the healthcare plan do not create insurance exchanges, the federal government plans to set them up. The exchanges are intended to extend health coverage to an additional 16 million people, while the Medicaid expansion would broaden eligibility requirements to cover another 16 million people.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld the law's individual mandate, which demands everyone who can afford to buy health insurance does so or face a fine, as constitutional.

But the 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. The court said the federal government may not take away Medicaid dollars from states that do not comply with the expansion.

On Fox News on Monday, Perry said Medicaid is a failure.

"To expand this program is like adding a thousand people to the Titanic," Perry said. "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."

Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin group that advocates for low- and middle-income Texans, said the Medicaid expansion would extend health coverage to as many as 2 million uninsured Texans.

"Failing to expand Medicaid would squander the opportunity to pump tens of billions of dollars into our state economy and leave as many as 1.5 to 2 million of struggling Texans out in the cold without insurance coverage," she said in a statement.

Texas Democratic Party spokeswoman Rebecca Acuna called Perry's decision on Medicaid "cruel and negligent."

"Rick Perry's Texas solution is to let Texans stay ill and uninsured," Acuna said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth and Jeff Mason; editing by Bill Trott and Mohammad Zargham)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-usa-health-texas-idUSBRE8680O220120709

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Cruz: Dewhurst Would Likely Compromise on Obamacare Repeal
By Katrina Trinko
June 28, 2012 6:59 P.M.
Comments
6

In a conference call with bloggers this afternoon, Texas senate candidate Ted Cruz said that his opponent, Texas lieutenant governor David Dewhurst, hadn’t signed the pledge to repeal Obamacare sponsored by Independent Women’s Voices and American Majority Action.

“Obamacare underscores the fundamental difference between and David Dewhurst,” Cruz said. “Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst is a dealmaker. He is a conciliator. Notably, he has refused to sign the repeal pledge.”

“Congressional and senate candidates all across the country have signed the repeal pledge,” Cruz continued. “I signed the repeal pledge many, many, many months ago and David Dewhurst won’t sign it, and he’s been called out on it repeatedly. He’s been asked to sign it, he’s been called out on it repeatedly, and he refuses to sign it.”

Asked about whether Dewhurst had signed it, Dewhurst spokesman Matt Hirsch told me, “We signed the pledge electronically online on May 26, 2012. We thought everything was taken care of, and we also had a hard version here at the office that we signed that shows that we signed it on the 26th.”

Hirsch also pointed out that in 2010 Dewhurst had signed the Revere America pledge. That pledge ends with the resolution that the signers “support the repeal and replacement of this law [Obamacare] with responsible reforms to our nation’s health care system.” In a statement responding to the Supreme Court decision today, Dewhurst said, “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to uphold Obamacare as constitutional is reason number one why we need a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate to repeal this monstrous law.”

But the IWV says they have no evidence that Dewhurst signed the pledge on May 26.

“We have no record, either on the Repeal Pledge web site or through other electronic means, of Lt. Gov. Dewhurst’s signature on The Repeal Pledge, either on May 26 or any day before or after, until this afternoon,” e-mailed IWV communications director Victoria Coley. “Just a few moments ago, we received a PDF of his signature on The Repeal Pledge, and we will add his name to the list of signers on the web site.”

“On behalf of the citizens of Texas who oppose ObamaCare and want to see it repealed in its entirety,” Coley added, “we thank and congratulate Lt. Gov. Dewhurst for making clear his determination to overturn the federal takeover of health care by signing The Repeal Pledge on 6/28/2012.”

In response, Dewhurst spokesman Hirsch e-mailed, “We stand by signing the pledge on May 26th.”

Cruz, according to the group’s records, signed the citizen version of the repeal pledge in March 2011, and signed the candidate version in May of 2011.

In the call this afternoon, Cruz argued that Dewhurst would be too quick to compromise if elected senator.

“In 2013, the pressure to reach a compromise on Obamacare, to keep some of it, to reject some of it, to be ‘reasonable’ is going to be enormous,” Cruz said. “And nobody looking at David Dewhurst’s record in the Texas legislature can doubt for a moment that he would run, not walk, to the middle to those advocating compromise in the Senate.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/304380/cruz-dewhurst-would-likely-compromise-obamacare-repeal-katrina-trinko

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, another Republican, said he hoped voters would address the issue by electing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has promised to repeal the health care law. He would not say what he thought the state would do if President Barack Obama is re-elected.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/07/09/gov-perry-tells-feds-texas-wont-expand-medicaid/

[TeyshaBlue]

I swear...Perry fucking wears me out.

[Nbadan]

"Rick Perry's Texas solution is to let Texans stay ill and uninsured," Acuna said in a statement.

Perry doesn't give a shit about the poor...most of them don't vote anyway

The Republican healthcare plan is 'don't get sick and die fast'

[boutons_deux]

Texas Counties Fear Residents Will Pay the Price of Perry’s Medicaid Rebuff

In San Antonio, George B. Hernández Jr., the president and chief executive of University Health System, which is financed in part by Bexar County taxpayers and includes University Hospital, used the calculator on his iPhone to talk about the impact of Mr. Perry’s decision. The system runs a financial-assistance program called CareLink that subsidizes the costs of health care to the uninsured. Mr. Hernández said 26,600 CareLink members would qualify for coverage if Medicaid was expanded and would no longer rely on the county subsidies. The annual cost of CareLink is roughly $2,000 per member, so a Medicaid expansion in 2014 would save the system $53.2 million a year.

“There are consequences to it, and the consequences are to local taxpayers,” Mr. Hernández said of not expanding Medicaid. “There’s an opportunity for tax relief that we’re passing up.”

Despite Mr. Perry’s rejection of key components of President Obama’s health care overhaul, Texas and its residents continue to benefit from various federal programs created by the law.

From August 2010 to March 2012, the federal government paid more than $100 million in claims to about 5,100 Texans in the federally run Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, which provides health insurance to people denied coverage by private insurers because of pre-existing conditions like cancer or diabetes. And nearly two years before Mr. Perry formally turned down the creation of a health exchange, Texas was awarded a $1 million federal grant in 2010 to plan for one.

Texas later returned about $900,000 of that money, state and federal officials said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/texas-counties-fear-cost-of-medicaid-rebuff.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

RickyBobby, a lifelong govt parasite/employee, can afford to be ideological, "philosohic" about rejecting federal funds. He's funded by the taxpayers and the 1%. Just another sociopathic, sadistic Repug politician.

[cantthinkofanything]

Perry attended Bilderberg in 2007.

[Wild Cobra Kai]

Not so fast, Ricky Bobby... (http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/18/12793857-businesses-will-push-perry-to-rethink-medicaid-expansion?lite)

[boutons_deux]

RickyBobby and other Repug states rejecting Medicaid expansion are the REAL DEATH PANELS.

Typical Repug/conservative "philosophy": money more important than human life.

Medicaid Expansion May Lower Death Rates

when states expanded their Medicaid programs and gave more poor people health insurance, fewer people died.

study reflects a recent effort by researchers to get around that problem and allow policy makers to make "evidence-based decisions,"

well-done study: timely, adds to the evidence base, and certainly should raise concern about the failure to expand Medicaid coverage to people most at risk of not getting the care that they need."

The number of deaths for people age 20 to 64 - adults too young to be considered elderly by the researchers - decreased in the three states with expanded coverage by about 1,500 combined per year

"I can't tell you for sure that this is a cause-and-effect relationship," that the Medicaid expansion caused fewer non-elderly adults to die, Dr. Sommers said. "I can tell you we did everything we could to rule out alternative explanations."

researchers found declines in two broad categories of deaths - those caused by disease and those caused by accidents, injuries and drug abuse, possibly suggesting that even accident victims may get or seek more extensive care if they are insured.

well there is benefit to giving people insurance," Dr. Currie said. "Maybe you don't want to pay the cost, but you can't say there's no benefit."

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=952294&f=19

I read another report that said although American mortality, entire population, is much worse than other industrial nations (and even worse than some less industrial nations), BUT for those Americans who reach 65 and Medicare, their mortality compares well with the best countries.

Obvious conclusion: as self-diseased, obese, and polluted as Americans are, sick care from Medicare keeps them alive (and probably popping BigPharma's shit).

And Texas already has one the most restrictive Medicaid programs, excluding millions (of blacks, browns, poor rural Repug bubbas.

[boutons_deux]

Texas 44th in children's well-being

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/14/27/15/3240812/4/628x471.jpg

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Texas-44th-in-children-s-well-being-3735307.php

[George Gervin's Afro]

Texas 44th in children's well-being

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/14/27/15/3240812/4/628x471.jpg

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Texas-44th-in-children-s-well-being-3735307.php

I'll save the righties the need to post..

It's all because of the illegal immigrants

[TeyshaBlue]

lol. Texas is within 6 pts of the national average in every catagory. Statistically, it's meaningless noise.
lol at the article not including links to the study. Why? Because it destroys the point the article is trying to make.
Stupid fucking article, but I can understand why cut and pasters love it.
Newsflash, Texas is not alone in the trending.


http://datacenter.kidscount.org/databook/2012/OnlineBooks/KIDSCOUNT2012DataBookFactSheet.pdf

[TeyshaBlue]

Let's advance the quality of education and safety of kids.
Let's base actions on good data and sound methodology.

Shallow studies like this do nothing to advance the cause.

[Winehole23]

Chambers of commerce representing companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) (http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/XOM:US) and Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) (http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/KMB:US) are challenging Texas Governor Rick Perry and lawmakers to expand health care for the poor in the state with the highest percentage of uninsured people.

The chambers of five cities are sending lobbyists to press Republican leaders to increase Medicaid coverage under President Barack Obama (http://topics.bloomberg.com/barack-obama/)’s health-care law.

While eight Republican governors have accepted the Medicaid expansion since November, opposition from Texas Governor Rick Perry and other Texas politicians remains intense. Photographer: Patrick Semansky/Bloomberg

Businesses are often allied with Perry, a failed contender for last year’s Republican presidential nomination. The chambers, however, argue Texas shouldn’t pass up $100 billion over the next decade to cover 1.5 million adults. Obama’s plan would pay all costs until 2016, then the state’s share would gradually increase to 10 percent in 2020. Perry says that’s too expensive.


“This may be the only time that we have taken an actual formal position that is opposite that of the governor,” said Richard Dayoub, chief executive officer of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t know of any issue that has created so much concern across the state and has amassed so much support across party lines and throughout the business sector.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-19/perry-pressured-by-texas-businesses-over-medicaid-refusal.html

[EVAY]

It will be (mildly) interesting to see if Perry pays attention to the Chambers of Commerce. I would expect that he would prefer to garner the support of the far right wing and maintain his position against the better interests of his own citizens.

How else could anyone explain his stated intent to try to 'return' tax money to taxpayers rather than replace the education funds that they took in the last budget shortfall?

[Winehole23]

good thing Perry has no control over that. credit the lege if it follows through on its stated intention to restore funding to education.

[Nbadan]

good thing Perry has no control over that. credit the lege if it follows through on its stated intention to restore funding to education.

:lol


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A new state budget plan has cleared the first major vote in the Texas Legislature with passage of a $195.5 billion two-year spending bill in the Senate.

The budget approved Wednesday by the full chamber reflects a 7.7 percent increase in general revenue spending over the current budget that lawmakers cut to the bone in 2011. Following three hours of discussion on the Senate floor, the bill passed 29-2.

Republican leaders in the Senate lauded the 2014-15 budget proposal as making the best of sunnier economic fortunes than two years ago. Public schools gutted of $5.4 billion two years ago would win back about one-fourth of those historic cuts under the Senate bill.

Republican say the bill also leaves room for tax relief.(but not for you)

Source: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Texas-Senate-passes-195-5B-two-year-budget-plan-4368981.php