Texas Governor Rick Perry announced today that his state is the latest to not implement parts of President Barack Obama’s new health care law, the Chicago Tribune is reporting. Perry said he doesn’t want to expand the Medicaid program or create a health insurance exchange, despite the fact that Texas has the highest percentage rate in the nation of people without insurance.
Perry’s decision makes Texas the most populous state to reject Obama’s provisions. Approximately 6.2 million people, or 24.6 percent of the population, don’t have insurance. His decision comes after fellow Republican governors in Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Louisiana all rejected the same two provisions in the law. They hope Republicans will win the White House in November so they repeal the decision.
In a statement, Perry said he won’t take part in socializing healthcare and bankrupting Texas “in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government.” He even sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today, asking her to relay his message to Obama. He added the provisions “represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state.”
Written by: Karen Benardello
