As Friday Nov. 16th Deadline Looms States tense over Obamacare
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas As long as the federal government has the ability to force unknown mandates and costs upon our citizens while retaining the sole power in approving what an exchange looks like the notion of a state exchange is merely an illusion" said Texas Gov. Rick Perry via letter Thursday to U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reiterating Texas decision not to implement a state insurance exchange as part of Obamacare.
The deadline designated by the Obama Administration for states to inform the federal government of a their intention regarding a State Insurance Exchange is November 16th.
It would not be fiscally responsible to put hard-working Texans on the financial hook for an unknown amount of money to operate a system under rules that have not even been written" said Perry.Already 14 State Legislatures have made it illegal and in some cases unconstitutional for their state to set up an
exchange and to implement ObamaCares mandates. States are under no obligation to set up an exchange.
Any state exchange must be approved by the Obama Administration and operate under specific federally mandated rules many of which have yet to be disclosed.
Gov. Perry has previously made clear Texas intention not to implement a state exchange or expand Medicaid under Obamacare in a letter to Secretary Sebelius in July.
- Refuse to respond to the HHS request for an update regarding their health insurance exchange intentions
- Respond that they will not implement an exchange as there is nothing statutory compelling them to do so or
- Allow the HHS to implement an exchange and be as passive as possible offering no assistance as the HHS pursues implementation in their state.
Last week Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell Chairman of the Republican Governors Association chose the third option allowing HHS to implement a federal exchange.
McDonnell took a stand against the massive burden ObamaCare would impose on the people of Virginia declaring
I dont believe the federal government can possibly deliver its commitment to fully fund the program and I dont want to be part of contributing trillions of dollars to the national debt."What is that likely to mean? The battlefront now shifts to citizen and state resistance say many conservative analysts. Opponents undeterred by President Obamas re-election victory argue the states are the new firewall. Fourteen states have passed legislation ballot initiatives or constitutional amendments blocking the individual mandates. A growing number of governors say they will not participate in setting up Exchanges the bureaucracies
that will redesign health insurance and deliver 100s of billions of dollars in ObamaCare subsidies.
Many states also have said they will not expand Medicaid to higher levels worried the federal government will lock them into the expansion only to yank back the 100 federal funding match.
Citizens also continue to voice resistance with the penalty for not buying insurance starting at $95 the first year for those that opt not to pay thousands of dollars for health insurance?
Many of the nations largest corparations have already begun company restructurings of their workforces with news reports announcing major job cuts and employee hours to avoid thousands of dollars in ObamaCare fines from the employer mandate fines many say could completely wipe out the profit margin.
