Texas Uninsured Citizens On Their Own
Texas is the state that can proudly state that it is the winner in a dubious category. Texas has more uninsured citizens than any other state. Yet its governor Rick Perry says the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is “a criminal act”.
President Obama visited Texas yesterday to thank those that are working very hard in Texas to help people sign up for insurance under the Obamacare. He said,
During his speech, Obama mentioned how badly many Texans were in need of affordable health care because the state is home to the highest rate of uninsured Americans.
Outgoing Gov. Rick Perry said Obama came to Texas to try and keep the nation’s new health care law from collapsing under its own weight.
The visit was a slap at Perry, a Republican who has repeatedly refused to expand health coverage under Medicaid as part of the new law. In a statement, Perry said the president was trying to “salvage his ill-conceived and unpopular program from a Titanic fate.” He noted that Medicaid already consumes a quarter of the state budget, and said Texas won’t accept a “one-size-fits-all Washington mandate.”
Traditional Media coverage of Obamacare has been skewed, superficial, amateurish, and dictated by the Republican Right Wing talking points. They cover the terrible implementation of the roll out of Healthcare.gov. Yet they do not cover the plight of the uninsured citizens. They do not cover the myriad of successes and benefits most Americans are already afforded by Obamacare.
Republican governors however must take some responsibility for its failures. The intent of the law was for most states to build their own exchanges to take care of their own uninsured citizens. Most Republicans refused to do this. They are materially harming their constituents. New York, Washington, and even Red State Kentucky chose to be responsible to their citizens. Their exchanges are up. They are running fine. They are enrolling their uninsured citizens.
It is unconscionable that many Republican governors did not accept the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare. It is fiscally irresponsible because their own taxpayers will be paying for healthcare insurance they will not receive. Emergency rooms will still see the indigent, the uninsured citizens. That will increase the price of insurance premiums and taxes to cover them.
This action is inhumane and immoral. These Republican state governors have sentenced many of their poor uninsured citizens to death. They are financially harming their own insured citizens.
MSNBC’s Craig Melvin interviewed Republican Texas Representative Michael Burgess. He asked Rep Michael Burgess to respond to the President’s criticism of Texas Republicans leaving over one million uninsured citizens uncovered. He did not allow the Burgess to spin. Watch the pertinent excerpts below.
The take from this interview is simple. Rep Michael Burgess’ is unconcerned for the poor. He is willing to use them as pawns. He shows who he is most concerned about. His concern is for business owning doctors. He does not want a market of low profit Medicaid recipients. What is ironic is that the Medicaid expansion to Obamacare raises the disbursement rates to the rates of Medicare. It does this at no cost to the state. The poor Medicaid rates in the state can be attributed directly to the states poor taxation model. They invest billions in business and little in people capital.