Incredible – Even in Texas There Are People With Enough Decency and Common Sense to Support Medicaid Expansion

Of Course, Gov. Rick Perry is Not One of Them

The battle between Republican Governors and decency continues with the debate over whether or not states will accept the expansion of Medicaid.  Many Republican Governors have recognized the obvious, that the benefits of Medicaid expansion are huge and that the costs to the state taxpayers are small.  But Texas, with its troglodyte Governor is not one of them.

A spokeswoman for Governor Perry, Lucy Nashed, said his position had not changed.

“It would be irresponsible to add more Texans and dump more taxpayer dollars into a broken and unsustainable system that already consumes a quarter of our budget, making it harder to pay for other things like public safety and education,” Ms. Nashed said. 

Well everyone wants a Governor who is looking out for the taxpayer.  Let’s see just how much money he will be saving the over-taxed (no income tax) taxpayers of Texas.

The federal law covers 100 percent of the costs for the first three years of the state’s Medicaid expansion, and in the years that follow, Texas would not pay more than 10 percent. From 2014 to 2023, about $100 billion would be available to the state in an expansion, with Texas having to pay about $15 billion in that time, supporters said.

Yep, the Texas taxpayer sure could get shafted here, but not from accepting the program, but from rejecting it.  And what about the economic impact on the state?

One of the most significant developments for Medicaid advocates came the day before, however, when a report by the state’s former deputy comptroller, Billy Hamilton, described expansion as smart, affordable and fair.

The report found a substantial impact on the Texas economy. In fiscal years 2014 to 2017, the injection of $27.5 billion in new federal Medicaid money would increase the state’s economic output by nearly $68 billion, said the report, which was sponsored by two religious-based advocacy groups, Texas Impact and Methodist Healthcare Ministries.

Finally, how do Gov. Perry and the rest of the Texas Republicans in government get their health care?  Oh,  sponsored and subsidized by the state of course, that’s only fair.