Texas' Gov. Perry Says State Will Reject Medicaid Expansion

(Newsroom America) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Monday his state would reject expansion of Medicaid and would not establish an insurance exchange, increasing the number of Republican governors who are refusing for now to implement two key provisions of President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

"I will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government," Perry said.

The one-time presidential contender joined a half-dozen other GOP governors who said they won't expand Medicaid coverage in their states to cover Americans up to the 133-percent-of-poverty level, saying the long-term costs are untenable.

"I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the Obamacare power grab," Perry said. "Neither a 'state' exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under this program would result in better 'patient protection' or in more 'affordable care.' They would only make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care."

Under the law the federal government would cover the cost of expanding coverage until later in the decade. But critics of the expansion have said given the government's growing tide of red ink, lawmakers in Washington could, in the future, opt to cut federal funding of Medicaid and other programs, leaving states holding the bag.

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