And-goodie,gumdrops... Conservatives target health care overhaul, Medicaid in Texas

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/112410dnpolheathcare.3c8f384.html

AUSTIN – Tea party members and other conservative activists pushed state lawmakers Tuesday to vote to nullify the federal health care law and get out of Medicaid, though one GOP senator said the largely federally funded program pays for nursing home care for the elderly and disabled and is "not all bad."

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Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and dozens of others said the Legislature should declare the federal law void and also refuse to set up a state health insurance exchange.

"Stand sovereign for Texas," Medina said at a joint hearing of two Senate panels. "Tell them no. And then get Texas out of health care," in part by dismantling the state's Medicaid program, she said.

Leading Republican senators said lawmakers hadn't decided how to respond to the federal law, though they found themselves arguing against suggestions that the state forgo billions in federal Medicaid funds and cut off current recipients.

Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, responded to one activist by saying nearly two-thirds of the Medicaid budget pays for the elderly and disabled to live in nursing homes.

"Medicaid takes care of a lot of ... the Greatest Generation, and it's not all bad," said Deuell, a doctor. Earlier, he blasted the new law as a big tax increase and a preliminary step toward a single-payer health system, a characterization his Democratic colleagues disputed.

At times, the hearing turned raucous. One woman distributed copies of the U.S. Constitution to lawmakers, saying, "We need a refresher on that." A disabled veteran challenged the flags behind the dais, saying that because they had fringes they were inappropriate. Others questioned why they could testify no longer than three minutes, a common limit in legislative hearings.

Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, though, drew applause when she said Texas could cut 70 percent of its health spending if people made better lifestyle choices.

"People need to assume some personal responsibility for their health care," said Nelson, head of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

There was no applause later, though, when health policy analyst Anne Dunkelberg of the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities countered that the federal law requires "family responsibility." In 2014, working families who receive subsidies to buy private plans will pay between 15 percent and 20 percent of income on premiums and other costs, she said.

Earlier, Tom Suehs, head of the state Health and Human Services Commission, testified that while some Texans favor pulling out of Medicaid, the program accounts for 15 percent of health spending in the state – and 70 percent of Medicaid is federal dollars.

Also, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin testified that premiums for individual health policies have gone up about 7 percent since Sept. 23, when some of the federal law's patient protections took effect, such as no lifetime limits and no refusals for children with pre-existing conditions. He said he didn't know what average annual inflation for those policies is.