That actually should matter to a certain extent. Either the courts or the electorate will stop this if it is a fundamentally oppressive or illegal act.
Why are we moving the indicators to 10 years in your garbage source? Trying to capture those real estate bubble gains? You economic boys must love averages to dispel truths. Sorta like our govt hiding unemployment stats. Get out of a class room some time. When you do, there's probably a job waiting for you down here.
The federal government is denying the $100 billion by having conditions on the money. They collect taxes from Texans and should not deny money based whether a state contributes anything.
Of course they should. They collect taxes, and it's up to them to spend them in a way they deem most efficient and appropriate. If people are investing heavily in something, the investors generally get some input in how that money is spent. In this case the Federal govt. is doing the investing, and they are entitled to have some conditions on that.
I believe he, among other leaders in the Texas Legislature have said they are willing to expand it, IF we can make changes to fit Texas. Sen. Williams [R-Williams], Finance Chair, had an op-ed on it in the San Antonio Express News. Sen. Schwertner [R-Georgetown]and Rep. Zerwas [R-Simonton] agree as well. They also contend that you need to have "skin in the game." Co-pays so you don't overuse services that are 100% free to you, further driving costs. One of their concerns is the lack of doctors. They are concerned that the influx of patients will degrade the existing services. They want to expand GME spots so they can get more doctors. What happens when Federal funding for the grant program expires? They have floated the idea of more loan forgiveness plans for those who serve under-served areas, and high Medicaid populations like the Valley. You can't keep pumping money into a broken system. It is already too difficult for many people to find a doctor who will accept Medicaid because the reimbursement is so low. Health care costs are continuing to increase and according to a Texas Medical Association survey, only 3 in 10 doctors accept Medicaid. TMA has agreed with Perry on the point of it being broken, but has advocated for accepting the expansion WHILE reforming it. Perry is trying to do exactly this.
With this attitude it seems more like accepting the money is a political move. If you are concerned with the actual consequences of accepting that deal you are making a move to make yourself look better without addressing the real problem. Throwing money at a broken system is not going to fix it.
Perry? Perry has only the power to accept the money or not, it's up to the Legislature and HHSC to develop the system.
There are conditions on the money. Conditions that they believe does not allow them to make enough changes. They want a block grant. Allowing them to use the money in ways that works for Texas. Texas is unique, we need a solution that fits all of our needs and the federal's one-size-fits-all mentality is not the solution. At least that is what Perry and other leaders in the Legislature believe.
Perry doesn't want to deny the 5-6 million people insurance, he just doesn't want those people to join a system that is broken. What happens when you add 6 million cars to an unstable bridge (it's a very large bridge, haha)?
