Letter to Secretary Sebelius

Letter

Gov. Rick Perry, in a follow-up letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, reiterated Texas' decision not to implement a state insurance exchange as part of Obamacare. The deadline to inform the federal government of a state's intention regarding a state exchange is November 16.

"As long as the federal government has the ability to force unknown mandates and costs upon our citizens, while retaining the sole power in approving what an exchange looks like, the notion of a state exchange is merely an illusion," Gov. Perry's letter said. "It would not be fiscally responsible to put hard-working Texans on the financial hook for an unknown amount of money to operate a system under rules that have not even been written."

Any state exchange must be approved by the Obama Administration and operate under specific federally mandated rules, many of which have yet to be disclosed. Gov. Perry previously made clear Texas' intention not to implement a state exchange or expand Medicaid under Obamacare in a letter to Secretary Sebelius in July.

To view the governor's letter to Secretary Sebelius, please visit

http://governor.state.tx.us/files/press-office/O-SebeliusKathleen201211150621.pdf.

Source