The Healthcare Reform Act in Texas
The consequence of The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act in Texas
On June 28, 2012, The Supreme Court ruled the Federal Government does not have the constitutional right to sanction an individual to buy health insurance, but declared that the states do have the right to place a tax on citizens that do not carry insurance. This ruling is in response to President Obama’s Patient Protection and Healthcare Act of 2010. Passed on March 23, 2010, President Obama’s Reform Act mandates Texas, as well as the nation, to provide Medicaid funding to all individuals that are uninsured by 2014. As well as expanding Medicaid, it will provide exchanges, which are pools of insurance companies a previously uninsured person can pick from. The government will subsidize this expansion program by paying 100 percent of the cost of newly-eligible adults up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2017, the matching rate will be 95 percent; in 2018, it will be 94 percent; in 2019, it will be 93 percent; and in 2020 and future years, it will be 90 percent (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). The United States Supreme Court did add an addendum to its ruling; in the case of, National Federation of Independent Business Et Al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Et Al, the states can opt out of providing Medicaid expansion without being threatened of the loss of matching Medicaid dollars. Also, if a state chooses not to provide exchanges to its constituents, it falls back on the federal government to provide a system (National Federation of Independent Business Et Al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Servies, Et Al., 2011). Rick Perry, Governor from the state of Texas, declared his opposition to this viewpoint in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius:
Through its proposed expansion of Medicaid, the PPACA would simply enlarge a broken system that is already financially unsustainable. Medicaid is a
On June 28, 2012, The Supreme Court ruled the Federal Government does not have the constitutional right to sanction an individual to buy health insurance, but declared that the states do have the right to place a tax on citizens that do not carry insurance. This ruling is in response to President Obama’s Patient Protection and Healthcare Act of 2010. Passed on March 23, 2010, President Obama’s Reform Act mandates Texas, as well as the nation, to provide Medicaid funding to all individuals that are uninsured by 2014. As well as expanding Medicaid, it will provide exchanges, which are pools of insurance companies a previously uninsured person can pick from. The government will subsidize this expansion program by paying 100 percent of the cost of newly-eligible adults up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2017, the matching rate will be 95 percent; in 2018, it will be 94 percent; in 2019, it will be 93 percent; and in 2020 and future years, it will be 90 percent (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). The United States Supreme Court did add an addendum to its ruling; in the case of, National Federation of Independent Business Et Al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Et Al, the states can opt out of providing Medicaid expansion without being threatened of the loss of matching Medicaid dollars. Also, if a state chooses not to provide exchanges to its constituents, it falls back on the federal government to provide a system (National Federation of Independent Business Et Al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Servies, Et Al., 2011). Rick Perry, Governor from the state of Texas, declared his opposition to this viewpoint in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius:
Through its proposed expansion of Medicaid, the PPACA would simply enlarge a broken system that is already financially unsustainable. Medicaid is a
Bibliography: National Federation of Independent Business Et Al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Servies, Et Al., 11-393 (Supreme Court of the United States of America October Term 2011). Amadeo, K. (2012, 07 14). Obamacare Summarry. Retrieved from www.about.com. Associated Press. (2012, July 22). Texas Latinos and Working Poor at Center of Medicaid Expansion Debate. Retrieved from Fox News Latino. Handcock, J. (2012, 07 18). Businesses Will Push Perry to Rethink Medicaid Expansion. Retrieved from Kaiser Health News. Luhby, T. (2012, July 30). Who covers health care for Texas ' uninsured? Taxpayers. Retrieved from www.CNN.com: http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/30/news/economy/medicaid-texas-health-care/ Luthra, S. (2012, 7 12). State Medicaid Chief Weighs In on Health Reform. Retrieved from The Texas Tribune: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-health-resources/health-reform-and-texas/state-medicaid-chief-weighs-health-reform/ News, F. (2012, July 9). Gov. Rick Perry responds to ObamaCare ruling. (F. News, Interviewer) Office of the Governor Rick Perry. (2012, July 9). Gov. Perry: Texas Will Not Expand Medicaid or Implement Health Benefit Exchange. Sends letter to Secretary Sebelius outlining reasons for rejecting Obamacare. Austin, Texas, USA: Offices of the Governor Rick Perry. Texas Health and Human Services Commission. (2012). Final Count — Medicaid Enrollment by Month. Austin: Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2010, May). Financing new Medicaid under Health Reform. The Role of The Federal Government and States. http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8072.pdf.