Perry Proposed A Bi-National Health Insurance Plan With Mexico In 2001

[Emit]

ruh-roh!

Perry Proposed A Bi-National Health Insurance Plan With Mexico In 2001

By Marie Diamond on Sep 1, 2011 at 10:00 am

The ghosts of Gov. Rick Perry’s (R-TX) more moderate past have come back to haunt him in recent days, particularly when it comes to health care.

In 2001 at a border summit in south Texas, Perry spoke optimistically about the prospects for a “bi-national health insurance” program that would cover both U.S. and Mexican residents along the border. He also praised the Texas legislature’s bill to increase funding for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Given that Perry now considers Medicaid to be unconstitutional, the speech reads like it comes from another world — or an entirely different person:

There are other challenges that require a unified approach, especially in the area of health care. (...) I urged legislators to pass a telemedicine pilot program that will enable, through technology, a sick border resident of limited financial means to receive care from a specialist hundreds of miles away.

But the effort to combat disease and illness requires greater cooperative efforts between our two nations. It is a simple truth that disease knows no boundaries. (...) We have much to gain if we work together to expand preventative care, and treat maladies unique to this region.

~snip~

In the speech, Perry also extols the need for more preventative medicine and brags about how the legislature “expanded access to Medicaid for more low-income children” and increased Medicaid funding by $4 billion. ...

~snip~

The Perry campaign is, predictably, trying to downplay the speech. ...

Perry has also faced scrutiny this week for a 1993 letter he wrote as Texas Agricultural Commissioner praising then-First Lady Hillary Clinton for her efforts to reform the health care system. ...

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/09/01/309632/flashback-perry-proposed-a-bi-national-health-insurance-plan-with-mexico-in-2001/

[eleny]

1. So he's not who he says he is

A two face or a flip flopper. This requires more investigation and careful consideration.

:D

[Emit]

2. This needs more exposure

:D