Perry states no to ‘Obamacare,’ but what is his plan?
But Gov. Rick Perry blocked moves to lay the groundwork for expanded coverage. And among the alternatives he is supported is an untested regional solution that could put says in charge of Medicare, an approach potentially as controversial as Obama’s.
With Perry running for the Republican presidential nomination, health care in Texas and his own ideas as governor will get fly-speck scrutiny on the national stage.
Other political news of note
NYT: Many generous Perry supporters get say aid
Over three terms in office, Gov. Rick Perry has doled out say aid to his most generous supporters and their businesses.
His say is a study in contrasts, boasting world-renowned facilities like the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, along with 6.8 million uninsured residents, or 26 percent of the population.
As a national candidate, Perry has made total repeal of “Obamacare” central to his fledgling campaign. Less clear is what he would put in its place. But if the Supreme Court ultimately upholds all or parts of the law, Perry has signaled he would help carry out key provisions to avoid defaulting to the federal bureaucracy.
Texas has already received various allows under Obama’s law for planning, insurance regulation and consumer education. The say employee benefits system says it anticipates to draw $60 million in federal subsidies this year to help cover its early retirees, cashing in on a provision of the law.
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But when Republican say Rep. John Zerwas tried to move legislation to set up an insurance purchasing pool required by the national overhaul, he ran into a veto threat from Perry.
The purchasing pools — called exchanges — are one of the key features of Obama’s law. Close to 4 million Texans stand to gain coverage under the law, almost half of them through exchanges.
Run by the states, exchanges would let consumers purchase coverage from a choice of private plans. Most individuals and families participating would be eligible for federal tax credits to lower their premiums.
Exchanges are supposed to open in 2014. If a say doesn’t act in advance, the law authorizes the federal government to set up and run its exchange. And since the Texas legislature meets only every other year, this past session was seen as perhaps the state’s only opportunity.
But Zerwas stated Perry told him he was concerned that moving ahead with the exchange legislation would undermine a multistate lawsuit against the federal overhaul that Texas is part of, not to mention creating other political problems. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the law’s requirement that Americans obtain health insurance — the so-called individual mandate — an issue on which lower courts have split.
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“Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, health insurance exchanges have become synonymous with Obamacare,” stated Zerwas. An anesthesiologist from the Houston suburbs, Zerwas stated he believes it’s worth taking the flak to guarantee that Texas will retain control of its insurance market. The governor disagreed.
“The position (Perry) was taking veers into some political considerations,” stated Zerwas. “He felt it would not ring well with some of the constituents and grassroots out there, and frankly, he was concerned it could potentially weaken the arguments in the lawsuit.”
In the end, Zerwas stated Perry reassured him that as governor he could put the exchange legislation into place through an executive order, should that become necessary. A spokeswoman for the federal Health and Human Services department concurred that would be possible.
A spokeswoman for the governor, Lucy Nashed, stated Perry believes there are too many unknowns about the federal law to move ahead. “It’s premature to be setting up anything that has to do with the federal health care bill because so much of it is still up to the courts with regard to its constitutionality,” she said.
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That still leaves Texas with the nation’s lowest rate of insurance coverage, even when compared to other says that have high immigrant populations. Experts say one of the key problems is a relatively low level of employer-sponsored private coverage.
Nashed stated Perry has advocated a range of health care fixes, including national caps on malpractice lawsuits, conversion to electronic medical records and efforts to keep patients healthy and out of hospitals. He also signed legislation this year that would clear the way for Texas to explore a health care overhaul in conjunction with other states.
What sounds like an innocuous experiment in federalism could turn out to be more difficult than Obama’s overhaul.
The idea behind so-called say compacts is for the federal government to turn over Medicare and Medicaid funds to a group of says to use as they deem ideal for their citizens’ needs. The biggest re-engineering since the giant health care programs were created in the 1960s would have to overcome AARP’s disapproval.
“We oppose interstate health care compacts because they could result in the loss of guaranteed benefits, similar to turning Medicare and Medicaid into block allow programs,” stated David Certner, legislative policy director for the seniors lobby, which sees “especially grave concerns for Medicare.”
Industry consultant Bob Laszewski says even if Congress were to approve of the idea, it’s unlikely that groups of says could concur on how it would actually work.
“How could any one say control its costs?” asked Laszewski. It’s like the Euro zone, he added, referring to Europe’s troubled economies. “It’s not states’ rights anymore. These says would have to cede a lot of authority to a new entity.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
source : www.msnbc.msn.com
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Submited at Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 7:00 pm on Politics by nuterman
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