Gov. Rick Perry's announcement that Texas will not pursue either of these two elements of the federal health law is drawing both national and regional headlines. But other GOP governors are delaying and mulling these decisions.
The Associated Press: Gov. Perry Tells Feds Texas Won't Expand Medicaid
Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that Texas won't establish an online marketplace for patients to shop for insurance or expand Medicaid, two key elements of the federal health care overhaul. In a letter sent to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Republican governor and former presidential candidate said both elements "represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state" (Stengle, 7/9).
Los Angeles Times: Texas Rejects Two Pillars Of New Federal Healthcare Overhaul
Texas turned down an expansion of Medicaid coverage and said it will not create a state-run healthcare insurance exchange, joining the chorus of states that are rejecting two key proposals of the Obama administration's healthcare overhaul measure. In a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released on Monday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose bid for the GOP presidential nomination fell flat this year, rejected both healthcare proposals (Muskal, 7/9).
The New York Times: Perry Declares Texas' Rejection Of Health Care Law 'Intrusions'
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas told federal officials on Monday that the state had no intention of expanding Medicaid or establishing a health insurance exchange, two major provisions of President Obama's health care overhaul (Fernandez, 7/9).
Politico: Rick Perry: Medicaid Is Like Adding People To Titanic
Hours after sending a letter to the federal government saying he'll reject the exchanges and Medicaid expansion in the health care reform law, Texas Gov. Rick Perry compared the Medicaid program to a famous shipwreck (Smith 7/19).
Reuters: Texas Rejects Key Provisions Of Obama's Health Law
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 (MacLaggan, 7/9).
Houston Chronicle: Perry Dismisses Medicaid Expansion, Says Options Under Review
As Gov. Rick Perry stood defiantly against expanding Medicaid in Texas under the federal health-care reform law Monday, he and other officials said they'd work for alternative solutions in a state where a quarter of the people are uninsured. What those solutions would look like is unclear, although Perry has long called for the federal government to give money to Texas in block grants with fewer spending restrictions. Some suggested expanding federal subsidies for private insurance, to allow more low-income people to purchase insurance on the private market (Fikac, 7/9).
Dallas Morning News: Texas Insurance Exchanges Will Be Made In Washington
If there's going to be a Texas marketplace where individuals and families can get subsidized health insurance, it will be made in Washington. Gov. Rick Perry's decision Monday to opt out of the process leaves it to the federal government to design an insurance exchange for the state, selling federally designed insurance policies. The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of requiring everyone to buy health insurance. Exchanges are the markets that will enable them to get those policies, with the cost offset for many buyers by federal tax credits. Small businesses will be able to shop for insurance on separate exchanges (Landers, 7/9).
Dallas Morning News: Perry Move On Medicaid Strips Hospitals Of Health Law's Major Benefit
Hospitals supported the Affordable Care Act because it contained a trade-off they could accept: The law would provide coverage to millions of uninsured people, even as it cut government payments to hospitals. If the Legislature goes along with Gov. Rick Perry's decision to reject much of the coverage expansion, Texas hospitals will face the prospect of huge Medicare and Medicaid funding cuts without as many new paying customers. The Medicaid expansion would provide insurance to as many as 1.7 million low-income Texans who are currently uninsured, according to the Urban Institute (Michaels, 7/9).
Dallas Morning News: Perry's Rejection Of Medicaid Expansion Could Burden Local Taxpayers
Soon after Perry fired off a no-thanks-ma'am letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and a statement denouncing President Barack Obama's signature health care law as a "power grab," health providers said they'd like to see the governor's plan for whittling into the state's towering problem of the uninsured. Perry didn't offer one, though he expressed confidence that state officials would do far better if they could use the $18 billion of federal Medicaid funds the state receives each year without conditions (Garrett, 7/9).
Meanwhile, other governors consider their options -