This week Greg Abbott contined his stubborn refusal to expand Medicaid and failed to propose any plausible solution for millions of uninsured Texans to get the health care coverage they deserve.
As the Texas Tribune reported, we were there to call him out:
The left-leaning policy group Progress Texas criticized Abbott’s proposal because it does not include Medicaid expansion to cover impoverished adults, a tenet of federal health reform that Texas’ Republican leadership has staunchly opposed. Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, with about one in every four people lacking health insurance in 2012, according to U.S. Census data. About 1 million Texans could qualify for Medicaid coverage if the state were to expand the program under current federal guidelines, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
“Texans don’t need more small ideas from Abbott — we need and deserve a comprehensive plan for insuring those 1 million Texans, and we need it yesterday,” Ed Espinoza, the group’s executive director, said in response to the candidate's proposal.
Abbott's running away from Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act at the same time it's working in other states - like Kentucky, for example. Overall 27 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid, and four more - Indiana, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming - have plans and proposals in the works.
Even national Republicans in competitive U.S. Senate seats won't run away from ACA:
The shift has been crystallized in contentious Senate races this fall. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently signaled that Kentuckians benefiting from the state's Obamacare exchange and Medicaid expansion should be able to keep their coverage. Senate GOP candidates Joni Ernst of Iowa, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Scott Brown of New Hampshire and Terri Lynn Land of Michigan have all refused to call for rolling back Medicaid expansion in their states. The number of television ads attacking the law have plummeted in key battleground states since April, and now even vulnerable Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas is touting his vote for protecting Americans with preexisting conditions under Obamacare.
But in Texas - nothing.
Many of the people taking newly created jobs in Texas will need a miracle to qualify for health coverage. We need a real solution to provide coverage for millions of Texans.
Republicans need to stop playing games and get on board with solutions that are already working.
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