Texas' Changing Relationship To Obamacare

[TexasTowelie]

The online federal insurance marketplace opened for business Sunday. It's the third year of open enrollment for these subsidized plans, established by the Affordable Care Act. Many Texans still oppose the law, even though the state is home to the most uninsured people in the country.

For the moment, Texas Republicans still consider the Affordable Care Act to be political kryptonite. Sen. Ted Cruz continues to criticize it. Attorney General Ken Paxton just filed another lawsuit attacking part of it. Gov. Greg Abbott has said he won't consider the Medicaid expansion, because he considers Medicaid a dysfunctional entitlement program that should not be allowed to expand.

But the story on the local level is different. Harris County is home to Houston, where Judge Ed Emmett, a moderate Republican who is chief executive for the county, has supported it for years. The CEO of the taxpayer-supported Harris Health System, George Masi, says he needs the revenue that Medicaid expansion would bring. He's had to lay off more than 100 employees and cut back on charity care.

"What is even more profound is that money is going to other states that expanded Medicaid, like New York, California, Connecticut," Masi says. "And so the taxpayer of Texas is being penalized, if you will, for not taking advantage of that option."

Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/02/453899238/affordable-care-act-sign-ups-lag-in-texas

[Thinkingabout]

1. Now talk about dumb, Texas governor and some of the other republicans are still fighting the civil

War when it comes to ACA. Money is going to other places, Texans are still not uninsured and the state is losing money. The war had been over for 150 years, Texas rejoined the union and could not secede again but our official thinks we can. Give up, Texas is still losing, ACA is staying, we are laughed at for being dumb.