Ahead of a Friday deadline to decide, Gov. Rick Perry's office has reaffirmed that Texas will not implement a major tenet of federal health reform 鈥� a state-based online marketplace for consumers to purchase coverage.
That means the federal government will have to roll out a program for Texas instead. Every state must have an exchange by 2014, the year 鈥淥bamacare鈥� 鈥� which many Republicans had hoped would be repealed if Mitt Romney won the presidency 鈥� requires most Americans to carry coverage.
Allison Castle, Perry鈥檚 spokeswoman, said Texas won鈥檛 design its own exchange because there is 鈥渞eally no such thing as a 鈥榮tate exchange.鈥欌��
鈥淭his is a federally mandated exchange that must be approved by the Obama administration, and will dictate the rules states must follow,鈥� she said. 鈥淭exas will not be a subcontractor to Obamacare.鈥�
Supporters of the exchange, considered crucial to getting the quarter of Texans who are uninsured to sign up for coverage, say the move is short-sighted 鈥� and a result of Republican state leaders playing politics over health policy. State Rep. , D-Houston, who was in Washington, D.C., meeting with the Obama administration鈥檚 Medicaid chief on Thursday, said thankfully there鈥檚 a backstop: a federal exchange.
鈥淚鈥檓 ready, and I鈥檓 sure other people are ready, to work with the federal government to do the best exchange that we can in Texas,鈥� Coleman said, adding, 鈥淕uess what? One monkey don鈥檛 stop no show.鈥�
According to The New York Times, 17 states and Washington, D.C., will create their own insurance exchanges; other options include partnering with the federal government to create an exchange, or letting the federal government implement a more one-size-fits-all plan.
