By Jeff Wentworth - Republican State Senator District 25
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas We have to pass the bill to see whats in it Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. This is not a tax increase President Obama said. Misleading and downright dumb statements were made to pass what could become the largest tax increase ever on Americans.
I am one of many who hoped Obamacare would be blocked in the United States Congress. Then I called for the repeal of Obamacare and hoped that Texas attorney general would prevail in the courts.
Texas along with 26 other states fought Obamacare in the United States Supreme Court. We lost the war (for now) but won one significant battle: States may decide whether or not to expand Medicaid enrollment.
So what happens now? Many still hope that it will be repealed by a new administration in 2013.
Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott are conferring about the states options. But in the meantime Gov. Perry has said that he is not interested in fast-tracking any portion of the bankrupting and overreaching legislation.
The chairman of the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee announced that she will schedule hearings soon to review how the ruling will impact Texas.
The Texas Legislature when it convenes again next January may have some decisions to make on how this legislation is implemented in Texas. Or Governor Perry could call a special session of the Legislature before then.
Medicaid is the number one cost driver in the state budget. About 3.4 million Texans are now covered under Medicaid. In the 2012-13 budget $17.1 billion of general revenue go to Medicaid; $40.6 billion in All Funds (that includes federal dollars) go to Medicaid.
The Supreme Court decision allows states to decide whether or not to expand Medicaid coverage to everyone whose income falls below 133 percent of the federal poverty level or about $25300 for a family of three.
The carrot to expand Medicaid is the promise of billions of federal dollars to pay for it for a while. From 2014 through 2016 the federal government would pay for the full cost of adding more people to the Medicaid program.
The rub comes in 2017 when states share of the cost kicks in slowly rising until it reaches 10 percent of the cost in 2020 when it will be capped.
Weve all heard the laughable saying Im from the federal government and Im here to help. That may be true in times of natural disasters but can we believe it when it comes to federal health care expansion? I doubt it.
Small business owners dislike this program; they fear that they will be forced to provide a benefit they cant afford. A majority of Americans did not want it. Its one more instance of the federal government trying to take care of us from the cradle to the grave.
As your state senator I will work against the expansion of Medicaid and the huge tax bill that will eventually come due.
