The first rule of asking for extra federal dollars in Texas is to never make it seem like you are asking for extra federal dollars. For Gov. Rick Perry, this is a tricky line to walk. Because as much as the Republican presidential candidate bashe
- From: Robert <r.h.harmone@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:57:48 -0800 (PST)
The first rule of asking for extra federal dollars in Texas is to
never make it seem like you are asking for extra federal dollars.
For Gov. Rick Perry, this is a tricky line to walk. Because as much as
the Republican presidential candidate bashes the federal government in
his campaign speeches, Texas gets a lot of money from the feds — and a
lot of it is going to the health care system he insists Texas can
handle on its own.
Continue Reading
Text Size
* -
* +
* reset
Listen to this article. Powered by Odiogo.com Listen
Latest on POLITICO
* White House Christmas tree arrives
* AT&T: FCC must let us withdraw merger application
* This week in one liners
* Stocks rise after turbulent week
* Tahrir assaults prompt warning
* Playbook: Five rising-star reporters
POLITICO 44
Perry has repeatedly decried the spending culture of Washington,
railing against both President Barack Obama’s health care law and the
federal stimulus. But as it happens, Texas has taken a lot of money
from both.
More than $380 million in early grants and other aid from the federal
health law have already gone to businesses and agencies in the Lone
Star State, according to figures from the Department of Health and
Human Services, and Texas ended up with $17 billion from the stimulus.
Now, the state is waiting for final approval of a new waiver from
federal Medicaid rules that could allow the state to draw down an
additional $12 billion in funds from the federal government.
And that’s before the main parts of the Affordable Care Act even kick
in, bringing billions of dollars to Texas in extra Medicaid funds and
subsidies to help people buy private coverage through a new health
insurance exchange.
If the law survives its upcoming review by the Supreme Court, its
expansion of Medicaid alone could cost the federal government anywhere
from $53 billion to $67 billion in aid to Texas by 2019, according to
estimates from the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
That’s more than any other state would get under that part of the law.
The only other state that comes close is California, which would get
between $45 billion and $55 billion in federal Medicaid funds.
“The only word that can describe this is hypocrisy,” said Democratic
state Rep. Garnet Coleman. “These days federal dollars might as well
be counterfeit, they are so dirty — but Texas would not survive
without them.”
To Perry, there’s nothing wrong with taking federal money. In his
view, Texas taxpayers send plenty of money to Washington — so they
have a right to get some of it back.
Publicly, though, he’s more open to the money from the Texas Medicaid
waiver proposal than he is to funds from the health reform law.
“Texas taxpayers send a substantial amount of money to Washington,
D.C., and this waiver will ensure that Texas receives its fair share,”
said Perry spokesman Josh Havens.
What makes the waiver proposal better than the health reform law,
though, is that “no Texas law or policy needed to be changed to
receive those funds,” Havens said. “Obamacare is a misguided,
unconstitutional and unsustainable government takeover of our health
care. The waiver Gov. Perry is seeking is a state-based solution.”
That’s a more nuanced view than Perry has taken on the campaign trail,
where he often insists that if the feds really want to help Texas on
health care, they should get out of its way completely.
“I’ll promise you, we understand that if we can get the federal
government out of our business in the states when it comes to health
care, we’ll come up with ways to deliver more health care to more
people cheaper than what the federal government is mandating today
with their strings-attached, here’s-how-you-do-it, one-size-fits-all
effort out of Washington, D.C.,” Perry said at a September debate
sponsored by POLITICO and MSNBC. “That’s got to stop.”
The biggest injection of federal health reform money could come in
2014, when the Medicaid expansion would take place. It’s not free to
the state — Texas would have to pay $2.6 billion to $4.5 billion,
depending how aggressive the state is in reaching out to find everyone
who’s eligible. But the feds will pay 100 percent of the state’s costs
for the newly eligible people for the first three years, scaling back
to 90 percent by 2020.
“The biggest beneficiary of the Affordable Care Act is the state of
Texas. We will have the single biggest reduction of uninsured people,
and the Medicaid is paid for in the first three years,” Coleman said.
Despite a $23.7 billion Medicaid budget, the state lacks the general
revenue to bring in more money from the feds (think very low taxes).
So a deal between hospitals and the state, called upper payment
limits, has allowed for Texas to bring in more federal Medicaid
dollars than it otherwise would, with providers putting up the money
to help the state win additional federal matching funds
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69072.html#ixzz1ekUx7MtZ
.
- Prev by Date: Ron Paul's strength in Iowa shows it's too soon to write him off Though he has a large and loyal following, Ron Paul's positions on key issues sets him apart from many Republicans. But he keeps moving steadily toward a position of strength in t
- Next by Date: A federal court-proposed map positions Democrats to gain as many as three congressional seats in Texas, dealing a sharp blow to Republicans who had hoped the state would help solidify their new majority. Under the plan, Democrats could capture th
- Previous by thread: Ron Paul's strength in Iowa shows it's too soon to write him off Though he has a large and loyal following, Ron Paul's positions on key issues sets him apart from many Republicans. But he keeps moving steadily toward a position of strength in t
- Next by thread: A federal court-proposed map positions Democrats to gain as many as three congressional seats in Texas, dealing a sharp blow to Republicans who had hoped the state would help solidify their new majority. Under the plan, Democrats could capture th
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
