State Rep. Kolkhorst: Obamacare subsidies, yes; larger Medicaid, no [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the House’s chief health policy writer, is featured in a new 10-minute video on Gov. Rick Perry’s website.

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In the video, Kolkhorst stands at a white board and uses differently colored markers to press the case that people — presumably, the news media, health care industry interest groups and naïve do-gooders — have made far too big a deal out of the federal health law’s push to have states expand their Medicaid programs.

Texas is resisting expansion. On Monday, Kolkhorst will join Gov. Rick Perry and the state’s two GOP U.S. senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Brooke Rollins, the head of a conservative think tank, at an Austin event. Its message:

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Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, is chairwoman of the House Public Health Committee. She relies on state estimates that show Medicaid expansion would have much less effect on Texas’ nation-leading uninsured rate than would the subsidies that help better-off people buy private coverage in a federally run state health insurance exchange. As I noted in this Medicaid fact checker earlier this month, former U.S. Census Bureau chief and ex-state demographer Steve Murdock did a study about a year ago that gives both prongs of Obamacare roughly equal weight in probably cutting the state’s rate in half. (See the jump to read the relevant excerpt.)

If Texas weren’t resisting, Medicaid expansion and the exchange both would commence in January. It appears more likely that just the exchange will kick off in early 2014.

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/kolkhorst-obamacare-subsidies-yes-larger-medicaid-no.html/ .

[font color=green]What is it with Republicans and whiteboards? Is it that they can't write all of the information on their palms instead?

Unfortunately, Kolkhorst is my state representative although she doesn't represent me.[/font]