Corpus Christi Caller Times: Perry has a point but no solution

The Corpus Christi Caller Times speaks to the Texas public asking them to consider Perry’s reasons for declining Medicaid expansion in the article Gov. Perry has a point, but no solution for uninsured Texans. While the article makes a good point for and against Perry, the article fails to elaborate important points. The article mentions a letter which states that Obamacare’s expansion plan “would simply enlarge a broken system that is already financially unsustainable.” Rather than explain how the system is “broken” which would lead to better understanding and reinforcement of this statement, the article states an additional issue of an insurance mandate which should, but is not guaranteed to, bail out health care. The article goes on to validate some of Perry’s other statements by the uncertainty of expected outcomes which is a weak way to support such statements. If it cannot be determined that the expansion of Medicaid would hurt Texas in the long run, then why would this possible solution be declined? In fact, the article notes the shocking $76 billion in federal funding which Perry has decided to walk away from. In order to provide perspective to this decision, the article suggests that even if the expansion of Medicaid turns out to be successful, there may be an issue once full federal funding is cut and could turn into a $76 billion “gift the state can’t afford.” What confuses me about this suggestion is the fact that the article states the policy that Texas would be capped at only a 10 percent contribution and suggests the state might not be able to afford the federal funding “gift”. The article needs to elaborate on this point more; will the state be financially stuck although the expansion was successful or would it be a problem that a small percentage of funding feeds into this success? The article simply states, “Perry offers no solutions. But he stands in the way of a solution for 1.2 million of Texas’ uninsured.” It seems to me that Perry has decided to take the cautious route with a known outcome but in doing so he has passed up an opportunity to provide a better life to many Texans and a better use of money for all Texans.