Hon. Kathleen Sebelius,
DEAR SECRETARY SEBELIUS: In the ObamaCare plan, the federal government sought to force the states to expand their Medicaid programs by in the words of the Supreme Court putting a gun to their heads. Now that the ``gun to the head'' has been removed, please relay this message to the President: I oppose both the expansion of Medicaid as provided in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the creation of a so-called ``state'' insurance exchange, because both represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state.
I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the PPACA power grab. Thank God and our nation's founders that we have the right to do so.
Neither a ``state'' exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under the Orwellian-named PPACA would result in a better ``patient protection'' or in more ``affordable care.'' What they would do is make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care.
The PPACA does not truly allow states to create and operate their own exchanges. Instead, it gives the federal government the final say as to which insurance plans can operate in a so-called ``state'' exchange, what benefits those plans must provide, and what price controls and cost limits will apply. It leaves many questions to be answered later through federal ``future rulemaking.'' In short, it essentially treats the states like subcontractors through which the federal government can control the insurance markets and pursue federal priorities rather than those of the individual states.
Through its proposed expansion of Medicaid, the PPACA would simply enlarge a broken system that is already financially unsustainable. Medicaid is a system of inflexible mandates, one-size-fits-all requirements, and wasteful, bureaucratic inefficiencies. Expanding it as the PPACA provides would only exacerbate the failure of the current system, and would threaten even Texas with financial ruin.
I look forward to implementing health care solutions that are right for the people of Texas. I urge you to support me in that effort. In the meantime, the PPACA's unsound encroachments will find no foothold here.
Sincerely,
Source: GOVERNOR PERRY'S LETTER TO KATHLEEN SEBELIUS — HON. LOUIE GOHMERT
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